News Updates
HHI News and Top Stories
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May82013
How Green is Your Hospital?
By: HHI AdminBy Marty Stempniak
Published May 8, 2013
Hospitals & Health NetworksWe've all heard of everything from checklists to hand-washing campaigns to try and bolster patient safety, but what about reducing your health system's waste output or energy use to try and lessen patient harm?
If providers want to get in the business of population health, it's critical that they start thinking more seriously about environmental stewardship. Hospitals ship about 6,600 tons of waste to landfills each day, spend about $10 billion a year on energy. The health care sector... -
May82013
EPA Announces National Building Competition - Register by May 31, 2013
By: HHI AdminThe Environmental Protection Agency has announced its National Building Competition - Battle of the Buildings. Now in its fourth season, the Battle of the Buildings is a Biggest Loser-style competition to see who can reduce their energy use the most. Last year’s waste-trimming competitors saved an average of $25,000 and reduced energy consumption by 8 percent. The winning building reduced its energy use by 52 percent! Learn more about the competition and registration at www.energystar.gov/BattleOfTheBuildings.
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May72013
Improving Community Health Through Sustainable Healthcare
By: HHI AdminBy Roy Gunsolas
Improving the health of the community has long been the priority of all healthcare systems in the United States. The goal of sustainable design is, in essence, the same. When the two intersect, patients, staff, and the community benefit. How are three healthcare systems making sustainability work? Each told their own story at HKS Green Week, held April 15-19, including: Seema Wadhwa, director of sustainability, Inova Health Tony Kelly, project director, Shore Health Al Neuner, vice president of facilities...
Published on May 7, 2013
Healthcare Design -
May32013
Hospitals Find ROI in Recycling Efforts
By: HHI AdminBy Chelsea Rice
In their relentless quest to contain costs, hospitals and health systems are examining all areas of their operations for signs of waste, even materials once considered trash. They may be able to save billions of dollars. Last year, an initiative of 350 hospitals recycled more than 50 million pounds of materials, diverted 61.5 million pounds of construction and demolition waste from landfills, and saved almost $32 million from single-use medical device reprocessing. These figures appear in the first Milestone...
Published May 3, 2013
HealthLeaders Media -
Apr272013
Changes on the menu
By: HHI AdminBy Jaimy Lee
Published April 27, 2013
Modern HealthcareRestaurants across the U.S. might serve Wild Alaskan salmon with a side of wheat berries, but at Fletcher Allen Health Care, an academic medical center in Burlington, Vt., the meal is locally sourced and costs only $5.25.
The 419-bed hospital is considered a leader in providing organic, local and sustainable food options to its patients, employees and the wider community it serves. It buys 80% of its beef from farms in Vermont that do not use therapeutic antibiotics. The majority of the eggs it purchases are... -
Apr242013
FIRST-EVER Healthier Hospitals Initiative's 2012 Milestone Report
By: HHI AdminFor Release: April 25, 2013, 9:00 a.m. EDT
Contact: Sheri Singer, sheri.singer@verizon.net, 703-346-7111, @sherisinger Robin Buckley, robin@buckleykaldenbach.com, 703-201-3524 In the first-ever Healthier Hospitals Initiative 2012 Milestone Report released today, 370 HHI-member hospitals indicate that they have reduced their environmental footprint, lowered costs and improved patient health by incorporating sustainability initiatives into their business models. This is the first time hospitals have quantified sustainability efforts by collecting and reporting data to... -
Apr232013
Hospital Food That Heals
By: HHI AdminBy David Ollier Weber
How would you like it if your hospital cafeteria got reviews like these on the social networking site Yelp? "Amazing quality food … . They have international cuisine, pizza, burritos, tacos, a full-service, made-to-order grill, a top-notch salad bar that is always full and fresh, entrée station, a panini deli, sushi … etc. Bon appétit." "Excellent salad bar. Get the little container and stuff it to the hilt … . I promise it will be a lot more lettucez [sic] than you originally intended....
Published April 23, 2013
Hospitals & Health Networks -
Apr222013
Business and Healthcare Partner on JustOne Campaign to Improve Public Health
By: Seema WadhwaBy Seema Wadhwa
Published April 22, 2013
Inova
Inova, Siemens Corporation and Washington Gas have teamed to launch the JustOne campaign (www.inova.org/JustOne), a month-long initiative (April 22- May 21) aimed at protecting public health by improving environmental health. Businesses and individuals across the globe are facing serious environmental issues, and the effects of environmental impacts on human health are becoming increasingly apparent. Health issues as diverse as asthma, bronchitis, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, reproductive and... -
Apr102013
Q&A: Jean Hansen On Healthier Interiors
By: HHI AdminBy Anne DiNardo
Jean Hansen is on a mission to green healthcare interiors. “Years ago, I started realizing that the products we specify have chemicals of concern in them that could affect our health,” she says. “I began asking manufacturers what goes into their products and then looking for safer products.” As a sustainable interiors manager at HDR Architecture, she’s been involved with the Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI), a three-year initiative to measure the environmental and financial impact of a series of...
Published April 10, 2013
Healthcare Design -
Apr82013
California Hospital Association Becomes Supporting Organization of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative
By: Sherry MacDonald
For Immediate Release: April 8, 2013 Contact: Sherry MacDonald (703) 870-7494 smacdonald@practicegreenhealth.org RESTON, VA— The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) announced today that the California Hospital Association has signed on as a Supporting Organization of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a collaborative of leading health care institutions united to incorporate environmentally friendly practices into daily operations for improved health of patients, staff and community, reduced environmental impact by the sector, and considerable...