GreenHealthy®
Environmental leadership for healthcare
Find “EPP-green” products on contract
Premier – An environmental leader
Serving 2,500 U.S. hospitals and 73,000-plus other healthcare sites, members of the Premier healthcare alliance are working together to improve healthcare quality and affordability.
Premier leads the industry, being named a "Champion for Change" award recipient from
Practice Greenhealth (formerly H2E) nine years in a row - firmly establishing Premier and its members as leaders in healthcare and setting the bar in the industry for commitment to environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) and sustainability best practices.
Premier was selected for the award for its commitment to a healthy environment, evidenced in its GreenHealthy® program, led by the Premier Safety Institute®. GreenHealthy includes Premier’s EPP (environmentally preferable purchasing) program, an internal corporate-wide Yes to Green program, leadership education and “quick win” case studies on sustainability best practices, and SPHERE® (Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction (for the) Ecosystem) a collaborative climate and energy initiative to reduce the healthcare industry’s carbon footprint.
Premier recognizes contracted suppliers with environmentally preferable products
Premier uses a green leaf icon to tag "environmentally preferable contracts" from contracted suppliers in its electronic catalog for members,
Supply Chain Advisor. These contracts have products or services with environmentally preferable attributes that reduce the negative impact on the quality and health of the environment and consider, for example, the product materials, potential toxicity, production, packaging, reusability, energy efficiency, disposal, nationally recognized certification, or its impact on the environment.
Premier EPP Work Group
Premier’s EPP Work Group provides advice and guidance on our EPP program and other GreenHealthy initiatives at Premier.
More information
SPHERE
Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction (for the) Ecosystem will build on Premier’s commitment to a healthy environment, focusing on reducing industry energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. More information about SPHERE.
EPP (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing) program
Premier’s EPP program is a partnership between the Premier Safety Institute and Premier’s group purchasing program to identify environmentally friendly products, packaging and services. In collaboration with our contracted suppliers and member contracting teams and committees, Premier helps to ensure the availability of those products and services for our members.
Product information Premier provides lists of contracted suppliers and products that are environmentally preferable on its public Premier Safety Institute Web site and in the electronic Supply Chain Advisor* member Catalog.
Tools and Resources for implementing environmentally preferable purchasing and green healthcare practices are available from the Premier Safety Institute, including:
- Topics A to Z - comprehensive array of information and tools
- CEO self-assessment tool – for CEOs to rate their organizations’ pollution prevention, purchasing and waste management/reduction programs
- GreenCorner® Web site - case studies from members and suppliers on green purchasing, products, and healthcare practices.
- Electronic newsletters – Two free periodic e-newsletters: GreenLink, with news about green purchasing and healthcare practices; and SafetyShare, with news about patient, worker, and environmental safety with 45,000 combined subscribers.
Education Programs Downloadable programs, MP3 recordings, slides and resources on selected green topics are available in our Safety Store.
Advocacy Premier provides testimony and communications with federal agencies and Congress on key environmental issues for healthcare, advocating a rationale, cost-effective, and evidence-based approach. View Advocacy website.
Partnerships Premier has established strategic partnerships with organizations that share our environmental goals, including:
- American Society of Healthcare Engineering
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Green Electronics Council
- Health Care Without Harm
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- Practice Greenhealth
- E-Stewards
- Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)
YES to GREEN - Corporate initiative
Led by the internal “Green Team”, environmentally preferable and green considerations guide the acquisition, use, maintenance, reuse, recycling, and disposal of products and services used throughout Premier’s corporate offices, business operations, and conference services. A special employee Yes to Green Web site provides tips for office and home, guidance on corporate initiatives, and highlights successes, including the recycling of more than 5 tons of IT equipment, to date. Learn more about the Green Team initiatives.
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