Premier Safety Share
Premier Safety Web site
April 30, 2003
Bulletin: Premier earns national recognition for environmental leadership efforts
This bulletin is a service of Premier Safety Share. Please forward this special bulletin to interested colleagues. Also, visit our Safety Web site for safety tools and resources.
Sincerely,
Gina Pugliese, RN, MS, editor
Vice president, Premier Safety Institute
Premier earns national recognition for environmental leadership efforts
Premier is the recipient of a 2003 Champions for Change Award in recognition of its leadership role in helping hospitals enhance workplace safety and promote environmentally friendly practices. This prestigious award comes from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), which is a joint partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the American Hospital Association and an industry wide collaborative effort to the healthcare industry with mercury elimination and waste and toxicity reduction programs.
Premier is the only group purchasing organization ever to receive the award, and it joins one of its members, Catholic Healthcare West, as a Champion for Change Award recipient. Gina Pugliese, vice president of the Premier Safety Institute, accepted the award on Premier’s behalf on April 28 at the award ceremony held in conjunction with the annual conference of the American Hospital Association.
In 2001, Premier formally launched an Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP) program in support of members’ efforts to protect the environment and provide safe and healthy climates for patients and workers. Its EPP program, a collaborative effort of the Premier Safety Institute and Premier’s Group Purchasing Services, offers products, resources and information about environmentally friendly alternatives.
Safety Institute resources, tools
The Premier Safety Institute’s comprehensive Web-based tools and resources provide a wealth of information on environmental safety, including the only publicly available list of mercury-containing pharmaceuticals. (The resource helps hospitals identify, manage, and dispose of these drugs as potentially hazardous waste.)
Visit the Premier Safety Institute Web for access to all the EPP tools and resources, including:
- Premier's position statement on EPP
- Product lists -- Mercury-free, latex-free, PVA-DEHP-free, and sharps safety products under contract
- Pharmaceuticals with mercury -- Assists with management and disposal of these products
- Resources and tools for:
- Mercury pollution prevention
- Sharps injury prevention
- Reuse of single-use devices
- Latex allergy prevention
- Regulatory and legislative action
- EPP Checklists for suppliers and materials managers to assess products and packaging
- Premier Safety Share monthly e-newsletter -- news on EPP-related issues
Additional information
Visit premierinc.com and the H2E Web site for more details about the H2E awards.