Hospitals Going ‘Green’

By Mary Jo Feldstein, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jun. 4–SSM-St. Louis is saying goodbye to water bottles. At St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, they’re buying hybrid vehicles. St. Anthony’s Medical Center will convert to a “green” cleaning process this summer. BJC HealthCare considers how products will be disposed of before purchasing them.

Health care facilities — which experts say are among the largest users of energy and water in their communities — are focusing more on shrinking their environmental footprint. Hospitals, physician offices and outpatient centers locally and across the country say they’re building and buying green.

“I think it’s real progress,” said Anna Gilmore-Hall, executive director of Health Care Without Harm, a coalition of organizations promoting environmentally responsible health care. “People are really taking this seriously.”

Locally, every major hospital system is undertaking several environmentally friendly initiatives. Efforts range from changing to energy-saving, low-mercury (compact fluorescent) light bulbs to analyzing which patients can receive medications held in biodegradable paper cups instead of plastic.

Framing these changes as friendlier to staff, patients and budgets as well as the environment has helped gain support.

“There’s no question that hospitals are moving forward on these issues and they’re discovering that it’s good for everybody,” said Barbara Sattler, a registered nurse who directs the Environmental Health Education Center at the University of Maryland.

Denny DeNavarez, chief executive of St. John’s, said she sees the efforts at her hospital as part of creating a healing environment. Most of the changes have come through a “Go Green” staff committee created last year.

In April, the committee made it easier for staff to recycle by sending a cart around to pick up used cardboard boxes. The amount of cardboard being recycled jumped to 26 tons in May from 17 tons in April, said Linda Baker, an administrative assistant at the hospital and one of the leaders of the “Go Green” committee.

Then there’s the cost savings.

Sustainable design can reduce hospitals’ energy use by half, said David Polzin, an associate principle at Cannon Design, an architectural firm in St. Louis.

“If we’re able to define value for our clients, they can see the benefits of sustainable design practices,” said Polzin, who has designed health care projects across the country.

Hospitals can use window materials and placement to maximize natural light and solar heat in the winter while minimizing in it in the summer. Then, remaining (incandescent) light bulbs are replaced with high-efficiency bulbs. Both changes are more costly at the outset but can save money over time.

Two of the region’s broadest projects are at its two largest health care systems. BJC HealthCare and SSM-St. Louis have building projects that are applying for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. Achieving this distinction means the projects considered the environment in nearly every aspect of building design and construction, from where windows are placed and what materials are used to whether there’s a bike rack on site.

“When people talk about green they say, ‘Oh, it’s going to increase costs or take more time.’ It’s just a different way of thinking about things,’” said Cory Elliot, vice president of operations at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, one of the SSM hospitals with a project applying for LEED certification.

Sattler says this change in thinking has been evolving for more than a decade. When she began working on this issue 12 years ago, there were more than 3,000 medical waste incinerators sending toxins into the air. That figure has dropped to less than 100.

Over time, nurses gained a better understanding of which pieces of garbage are truly hazardous and need to be incinerated. Then they began a push to find products with less packaging or that could be reused with sterilization.

“The biggest difference between today and five years ago — before that didn’t enter their conscious mind,” said Nancy LeMaster, vice president of supply chain operations for BJC HealthCare.

She’s also noticed manufacturers becoming more aware, creating products and packaging with these principles in mind. So has Dr. Charles Goldfarb, an orthopedic surgeon, who directs the Washington University-BJC orthopedic center attempting to become LEED certified.

“It’s just become a whole new market in health care,” Goldfarb said.

mjfeldstein@post-dispatch.com — 314-340-8209

—–

To see more of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stltoday.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.