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Newsletter 2005 issue 2 |
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Ridgeview Medical Center Plans for a Sustainable Community
Unlike most businesses, health care facilities include improving public health as part of their mission statements. Embracing the health care ethic “first do no harm,” Ridgeview Medical Center (RMC), in Waconia, decided to become a model sustainable hospital—the first of its kind in the nation.
Robert Stevens, Ridgeview’s president and CEO, became a champion within the facility after attending a Natural Step seminar on sustainable businesses and communities. ”After learning about Natural Step, I challenged staff to make the hospital an environmentally responsible facility. This builds on our commitment to the safety and health of our people and the community,” said Stevens.
Each department developed key criteria for becoming sustainable that included an objective, steps to achieve the objective and a list of who is responsible for those steps. The criteria enable staff to track their goals and measure their progress in each area.
“Ridgeview has taken its sustainability initiative seriously. Staff have looked at everything they can. They’ve really made a cultural and operational shift toward environmental improvement, building on their commitment to community health,” said Catherine Zimmer, MnTAP health care specialist.
Sampling of pollution prevention projects
RMC won a 2003 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention for applying pollution prevention strategies to improve the safety and health of the organization and the community. Here are a few of its successes.
Concentrate cleaners. Switching from ready-to-use cleaners to hyperconcentrates dispensed in a closed-handling system reduces the chance of spills and splashing, as well as decreases the volume of solid waste created. One quart of concentrate disinfectant replaces 180 one-gallon containers.
Fractional distillation. RMC distills formalin, as well as alcohol and xylene, from its histopathology lab. The equipment reclaims 90 percent of the formalin.
Infectious/red bag waste. This regulated medical waste costs five times as much to manage as solid waste. Staff working with isolation patients were throwing linens away as red bag waste. But, the linens can be reused because they are washed for infection control. A training effort was made to inform staff about what is infectious waste, and signs were posted at collection points instructing on the proper collection.
Less-toxic sterilants and disinfectants. The hospital took a good look at its disinfection practices and determined where disinfection was unnecessary and cleaning practices were sufficient. It also substituted less-toxic chemicals for ethylene oxide (EtO), glutaraldehyde and phenolic disinfectants.
Mercury-free equipment. Mercury in equipment and chemicals has been virtually eliminated. For example, sphygmomanometers and esophogeal dilators were replaced with mercury-free alternatives.
Water. To reduce water use, Ridgeview installed flow control devices on toilets, sinks and shower heads; uses condensate from air handling units as make-up water for the cooling towers; replaced portions of the lawn with more drought-tolerant native plants; among other activities. Despite the organization’s growth it has improved the efficiency of water use by 21 percent.
Additional information on Ridgeview’s sustainability work can be found on MnTAP's Web site.
Robert Stevens will speak on pollution prevention from a health care perspective and his facility’s experience as a pollution prevention leader, on November 15 at MnTAP’s 20th anniversary celebration.
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