Premier healthcare alliance receives national recognition for environmental excellence for sixth consecutive year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Gina Pugliese
gina_pugliese@premierinc.com
Safety Institute, Premier healthcare alliance
704.733.5874
Premier was first healthcare group purchasing organization to earn prestigious award
Charlotte, N.C. (May 20, 2008) - The Premier healthcare alliance today received the 2008 "Champion for Change" award from Practice Greenhealth (PGH), formerly Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, for its leadership in helping alliance member hospitals and health systems promote environmentally friendly practices.
The Champion for Change Award is given to organizations that supply healthcare products and services that are considerate of the earth and its resources. The winners of this award have achieved success in greening their own organization and have also assisted others who are committed to improving their environmental performance. Forty-one Premier healthcare organizations were also honored by PGH across eight categories.
Premier’s commitment to sustainability is evidenced in the newly named GreenHealthy® program. GreenHealthy includes the Premier’s EPP (environmentally preferable purchasing) program, an internal corporate-wide Yes to Green program, and a new collaborative climate and energy initiative to help hospitals reduce energy use and cost called SPHERE, Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction (for the) Ecosystem.
Premier wins 2008 Champions for Change award from Practice Green Health (PGH)
From Left: Lauren Solis, Premier; Sister Susan Vickers, CHW and PGH Board; Kellie McNellis, Premier; Gina Pugliese, Premier;
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"Premier is pleased to be recognized by this prestigious award as we continue to help our member hospitals and health systems adopt environmentally sound business practices," said Rick Norling, president and CEO, Premier. "This award firmly establishes Premier as a leader in healthcare, setting the bar for industry commitment to environmentally preferable purchasing and healthcare practices."
Premier’s members have been very creative in finding ways to be green, said Gina Pugliese, vice president, Premier Safety Institute. "Premier’s members are proactively taking environmentally friendly actions, including composting of organic materials, recycling of floor coverings, lab solvents, and construction waste, purchasing organically grown foods, using foodware made of bio-based materials, and increasing use of energy efficient LED lighting," Pugliese said.
The Champion for Change Award is presented annually by PGH, an industry-wide collaborative effort, designed to enhance workplace and environmental health and safety. Premier’s Champion for Change Award is a result of the combined efforts of Premier Purchasing Partners, the Premier Safety Institute and Premier members and suppliers to identify environmentally preferable products, packaging and services. The awards will be presented today at the 2008 PGH Environmental Excellence Awards ceremony in Pittsburgh.
A key award selection factor was the Premier Safety Institute’s suite of educational offerings – both for Premier member healthcare institutions, as well as the greater industry. The Premier Safety Institute, the nation’s most recognized resource on hospital safety issues, receives more than 5 million hits annually.
Safety Institute tools are available at www.premierinc.com/safety. The Safety Institute provides Web-based tools and resources for establishing green – or environmentally sound – programs and practices. Green Corner, another Premier Web resource, showcases hospital and supplier success stories about green initiatives that contribute to a safer, healthier community.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that hospitals use more than twice as much energy per square foot as office buildings and as a group, consume almost 50 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and spend almost $3 billion each year on electricity alone. If hospitals improved their energy efficiency by an average of 30 percent, the annual electricity savings would be close to $1 billion, and 11 million fewer tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted – the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road.
In an effort to continue to address these critical energy issues, Premier will be announcing a new collaborative to reduce healthcare’s carbon footprint. The new program, called SPHERE (Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction for the Ecosystem), will focus on reducing energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the use of cleaner, renewable energy.
2008 Premier Environmental Excellence Award winners include:
Champion for Change
- Premier healthcare alliance, Charlotte NC
System for Change
- Covenant Health Systems, Lexington, MA
Environmental Leadership
- Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City, CA
Making Medicine Mercury-Free
- Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT
Making Medicine Mercury-Free and Partner Recognition
- Euclid Hospital, Euclid, OH
- Mary Immaculate Health Care Services, Lawrence, MA
- St. Mary's Villa, Moscow, PA
Partner for Change
- Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Great River Medical Center, West Burlington, IA
- Mercy General Hospital, Sacramento, CA
- Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
- Montgomery General Hospital, Olney, MD
- Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT
- St. Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino, CA
- St. Charles Mercy Hospital, Oregon, OH
- St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, Red Bluff, CAv
- St. John's Riverside Hospital, Yonkers, NY
- St. Joseph Hospital, Nashua, NH
- Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook, NY
Partner for change and making Medicine Mercury-Free
- Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
- Huron Hospital, East Cleveland, OH
- St Andre Health Care, Biddeford, ME
- St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital, Camarillo, CA
- St. John's Regional Medical Center, Oxnard, CA
Partner Recognition
- Ashtabula County Medical Center, Ashtabula, OH
- Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, Pittsburgh
- Fairview Hospital, Cleveland
- Hillcrest Hospital, Mayfield Heights, OH
- Lakewood Hospital, Lakewood, OH
- Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, New London, CT
- Lutheran Hospital, Cleveland
- Maristhill Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Waltham, MA
- Marymount Hospital, Garfield Heights, OH
- Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Carmichael, CA
- Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center, Reno, NV
- South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Heights, OH
- St. Joseph Manor, Brockton, MA
- St. Mary Health Care, Worcester, MA
Environmental Leadership Circle
- Dominican Hospital CHW, Santa Cruz, CA
- Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital, Fort Worth, TX
- St. Joseph's Medical Center, Stockton, CA
About Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the result of the merger of two leading organizations – Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) and the Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC) – with a new clean energy and energy efficiency program, Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange (HCEE). For more information on Practice Greenhealth, healthy initiatives, current trends, news and views, and other links to earth-friendly organizations, visit www.practicegreenhealth.org.
About Premier, 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 50,000 other healthcare sites, the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming healthcare together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the leading healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the nation's largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers deliver dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.