The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) in North Chicago was awarded the 2015 Greenhealth Partner for Change Award by Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading health care community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge, according to a news release. The award is one of the organization’s Environmental Excellence Awards given each year to honor outstanding environmental achievements in the health care sector.
The Greenhealth Partner for Change Award recognizes health care facilities that continuously improve and expand upon their mercury elimination, waste reduction, recycling and source-reduction programs. At a minimum, facilities applying for this award must be recycling 15 percent of their total waste, have reduced regulated medical waste, are well along the way to mercury elimination, and have developed other successful pollution prevention programs in many different areas.
The Lovell FHCC has excelled in energy reduction efforts, innovative approaches to education and training, and electric vehicle utilization. Its interdisciplinary team, called the Green Environmental Management System (GEMS) Committee, is largely credited for these energy and environmental improvements. This committee has set new goals for the following year, and intends to improve on-campus sustainability efforts — especially the recycling program.
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“We take pride in our sustainability efforts to lessen our impact on the environment,” said GEMS Program Manager Joe Bozeman in a statement. “As a Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change Award winner, the FHCC is committed to improving the health of our patients, staff, and community as a whole.”
The FHCC also was honored with being one of the representatives to accept Practice Greenhealth’s Health System award, as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had several award recipients nationwide.
To learn more about Practice Greenhealth visit http://www.practicegreenhealth.org.
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