Health Facilities Management Highlights HHI

By Jeff Ferenc, senior editor
Published May 2012
Health Facilities Management

Hospitals that need guidance in either starting or accelerating their sustainability efforts have a new source of information and assistance with the launch of the new Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI).

Eleven of the largest U.S. health care systems representing more than 500 hospitals have partnered with Health Care Without Harm, the Center for Health Design and Practice Greenhealth to create HHI, which launched in April.

The program will provide participants with resources and expertise to bolster their environmental efforts, thereby improving patient health and lowering operational costs. The sponsoring health care systems and some hospitals that enroll will serve as mentors and share their sustainability knowledge and best practices with other hospitals.

"What we really want to do is make environmental stewardship in health care mainstream," says Janet Brown, director of facility engagement, Practice Greenhealth, Reston, Va., and director of content and outreach, HHI.

"We'd like to reach that tipping point where every hospital starts integrating sustainable practices into their way of doing business. We don't want it to be in just some hospitals, we think it should be in every hospital," she says.

Continue reading full article in Health Facilities Management