Greening Your Hospital

Greening Your Hospital 5 Ways to Go for the Green Plant the Seed Pull the Weeds Water Give It Love Put it in Light and Watch It Grow

Greening Your Hospital Plant the Seed

Obtain support from senior and upper level management

Obtain support from middle management, support staff and physicians

Form a Green Team

Greening Your Hospital Plant the Seed: Senior and Upper Level Management

One thing successful green initiatives have in common is leadership and support from senior level management.

Senior and upper level management backing will motivate lower management and support staff to follow suit

Management will put into place the guidelines and initiatives needed for support staff to follow through

Greening Your Hospital Plant the Seed: Lower-level Management, Support Staff and Physicians

Without the support of hospital employees, it is impossible to green a hospital because every little bit counts.

Advocate small steps – less waste at meals, e-mail vs. printed paper, turn off lights when not in use

Set employees up for success – provide paper recycle bins and other useful tools

Listen to concerns and implement ideas

Give plenty of praise and reward

Greening Your Hospital Plant the Seed: Operation Green Team

Identify those who are passionate about greening the hospital and form a Champions Green Team with these individuals. Champions should consist of employees spanning the scope of all levels and functions within the organization. Hold a monthly meeting to discuss and implement ideas and procedures.

Educate and engage your Green Team – give them the tools to in turn educate and engage their peers

Greening Your Hospital Pull the Weeds

Develop Standards

Coordinate with all levels of management and the Green Team

Enforce accountability

Make routine evaluations

Greening Your Hospital Pull the Weeds: Coordinate

Make sure everyone is on the same page

Hire a firm to assist your hospital in its greening efforts or conduct extensive research

Form a solid marketing plan that includes a framework calendar

Create a sustainability manager position to direct programs

Implement training programs to all employees

Greening Your Hospital Pull the Weeds: Accountability

Hold management and employees accountable to the practices and standards put in place

Once the practice and standards are put into place, they must be followed – even when faced with issues of cost, time constraints or pressures from departments

Use your department as a role model

Use positive reinforcement to motivate

Greening Your Hospital Pull the Weeds: Evaluation

Evaluate on a regular basis to not only gather positive feedback but also improve standards and practices

Some implementations will be easy to measure – such as those that save the hospital money – and can be done more frequently

Be sure to consider evaluating those that aren’t measured in dollars

Compile your findings into a tangible piece for all employees; the more results they see they more they will be apt to work toward the goal

Greening Your Hospital Water

Make “sustainability” a part of your hospital’s image

Mission and Vision

Greening Your Hospital Water: Image

Consider your community when working to develop a greening plan and encourage the community to develop their own greening movement

Make your intentions known to the community – this will also help hold management accountable

Use your greening efforts as a positive illustration of the hospital

Greening Your Hospital Water: Mission and Vision

Make your environment mission part of your strategic planning process

Apply positive verbiage about the greening efforts into internal and external tactics

Greening Your Hospital Give It Love

Take Small Steps

Establish a Green Building Policy

Greening Your Hospital Give It Love: Take Small Steps

Fully understand that a tree doesn’t grow up overnight and neither does “greening” a hospital

Be patient with management and employees – supply them with the information and tools they will need to see these changes in a positive light

Reinforce positive changes – even small ones

Expand on your greening project each year – you don’t have to become fully green even in the first year – work within your budget and weigh the benefits and risks carefully

Always put patient care first – if you are not comfortable with a product or procedure, find one that you are comfortable with that also fits into your hospitals greening efforts

Greening Your Hospital Give It Love: Initiate a Green Building Policy

It is in the hospital’s best interest to put policies into place that ensure all construction and renovation projects meet sustainability standards.

Consider the cost difference in meeting sustainability standards at the point of building or the cost of renovation

Greening Your Hospital Put it in Light and Let it Grow

Hospital – Heal Thyself!

Celebrate your accomplishments! They not only can save hospitals millions of dollars but will make this world a healthier place to live in!

By setting up a environmental management program you can turn ideas into action and involve your employees on a whole new level

Fact: The EPA identified medical waste incineration as the largest source of dioxin, considered to be the most potent human carcinogen manufactured

Greening Your Hospital Percent Solid Waste Composition (By Weight) In Hospitals* *Based on composition of waste in nine Los Angeles City hospitals (1990)

Greening Your Hospital $591,000 TOTAL SAVINGS $11,000 Cool roof $40,000 Photovoltaic mechanical screen $40,000 HDPE piping for exterior conduit $75,000 Solar-powered construction lighting (now used on walkways) $100,000+ PG&E utility rebate $290,000+ Permeable pavement in parking lot SAVINGS STRATEGY

Greening Your Hospital