Premier, Inc. has been recognized for helping healthcare facilities with their environmental efforts, including waste minimization and the elimination of the use of mercury.
SAN DIEGO &3151; Premier, Inc. has been recognized for helping healthcare facilities with their environmental efforts, including waste minimization and the elimination of the use of mercury.
Premier, a national alliance of hospitals and healthcare systems, is the recipient of a 2005 “Champion for Change” Award from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E). Premier was the first hospital group purchasing organization to earn the award, in 2003.
This is the third consecutive year the company has been recognized.
A partnership that includes the American Hospital Association and the Environmental Protection Agency, H2E is an industry-wide collaborative effort that educates healthcare professionals about pollution prevention opportunities and assists hospitals in reducing mercury use and minimizing waste. The H2E awards will be presented April 12 at the Fairmont Chicago Hotel in conjunction with the National Environmental Partnership Summit.
Catholic Healthcare West, one of Premier’s members and shareholders, also has been named a Champion for Change award winner.
The Champion for Change Award is given to organizations that take a leadership role in promoting H2E goals and whose members or customers have implemented programs in support of these goals. Other Premier members have also earned distinction as honorees for other H2E awards, recognizing efforts in waste reduction and total mercury elimination.
Another factor in Premier’s selection was the ongoing education offered through its Safety Institute, including comprehensive Web-based tools and resources available at www.premierinc.com/safety. These include a publicly available CEO Scorecard for environmental assessments and resources on mercury pollution prevention, latex allergies, reuse of single-use devices, DEHP, PVC, green cleaners, pharmaceutical waste, and computer “e-waste.” In addition, Premier offers the only publicly available list of mercury-containing pharmaceuticals to help hospitals identify, manage, and dispose of these potentially hazardous drugs.
“Premier has long recognized the importance of environmental stewardship and joins our members in acknowledging that product choices can impact our health and the environment,” said Richard A. Norling, Premier president and CEO. “We continue to provide our members and the public with resources through our Safety Institute to improve the health of the communities we serve by choosing safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products and practices.”
The 2005 Champion for Change awardees include Premier, Catholic Healthcare West, Baxter Healthcare, California Department of Health Services, Hospital Pollution Prevention Program, Consorta, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Novation, Ohio Hospital Association, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1, Vanguard Medical Concepts, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Wheaton Franciscan Services.
About H2E Hospitals for a Healthy Environment was launched in 1998 as a joint project of the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Healthcare Without Harm, and the American Nurses Association.
The primary goal of the H2E effort is to educate health care professionals about pollution prevention opportunities in hospitals and health care systems. Through activities, such as the development of best practices, model plans for total waste management, resource directories, and case studies, the project hopes to provide hospitals and health care systems with enhanced tools for minimizing the volumes of waste generated and the use of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals. Such reductions are beneficial to the environment and health of our communities, and, mproved waste management practices will reduce the waste disposal costs incurred by the health care industry.
For more information, and a complete list of winners, visit the H2E Web site at www.h2e-online.org.
Source: Premier, Inc., and H2E
