In recognition of
their achievement and innovation in health care sustainability, five
Aspirus Health hospitals recently received Environmental Excellence Awards from
Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to
environmental sustainability in health care.
Greenhealth Partner
for Change Award
Aspirus Iron River
Hospital and Aspirus Wausau Hospital received the Greenhealth Partner for
Change Award. This award recognizes superior performance in environmental
sustainability, covering a range of different sustainability programs and
activities. Winners have also made substantive progress on mercury elimination.
Partner Recognition
Award
Aspirus Ironwood
Hospital, Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital (Laurium, Mich.) and Aspirus Riverview
Hospital (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) received the Partner Recognition Award. This
award recognizes facilities that have a commitment to environmental
improvements and have achieved progress in several areas of the organization.
“In a shifting
health care landscape, a focus on sustainability can help build resilience
while better protecting the health of patients and the community,” said Gary
Cohen, Practice Greenhealth founder. “The five Aspirus Health hospitals
receiving award recognition demonstrate the kind of leadership, innovation and
performance that can drive the entire health sector toward more environmentally
responsible practices.”
In health care,
sustainability means looking at how operations affect the health and safety of
the environment as well as the health of patients, employees, visitors and the
local community. Systemwide strategies to address sustainability at Aspirus
Health include minimizing and recycling waste, addressing chemicals of concern,
lowering energy and water consumption, sourcing food and products sustainably,
incorporating sustainable features into buildings and grounds, establishing
environmentally preferable purchasing criteria, and more.
“At Aspirus Health,
we know sustainability is essential to better care for our patients,
communities and planet while also making good financial and business sense,”
said Andrew Miller, Director of System Facilities Management and Security. “In
recent years, we’ve made great strides toward reducing our impact on the
environment, and we are committed to doing even more. We’re grateful to
the many Aspirus Health team members, clinicians and leaders – as well as to
our community and industry partners – who are committed to this work and bring
innovation, ingenuity and adaptability to help us improve our footprint.”
Recent
sustainability achievements at Aspirus Health include:
- Conversion to LED
interior lighting at all 17 Aspirus hospitals.
- Installation of an
85-kilowatt photovoltaic/solar array on the roof of the Aspirus Wausau Clinic -
N 3rd Street, bringing Aspirus Health to a total of 1.8 megawatts of solar
electric panels across nine locations.
- Installation of an
additional 4 electric vehicle charging stations to support Aspirus Health’s EV
fleet vehicles.
- Tree Campus®
Healthcare designation for Aspirus Wausau Hospital from the Arbor Day
Foundation in recognition of the hospital’s commitment to planting, nurturing
and celebrating trees.
Aspirus Health
instituted a formal sustainability initiative in 2018 and last year joined the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health
Care Sector Pledge, expressing the health system’s commitment to reducing
its greenhouse gas emissions and increasing its climate resilience.