BOSTON—Health care environmentalism is finally moving from the back doors and dumpsters of the nation’s hospitals and into their executive offices, if presentations at this year’s CleanMed conference were any indication.
Over 150 individuals, from all segments of the health care world—administrators, safety and infection control managers, purchasers, and clinicians—gathered for two days to learn more about environmentally preferrable medical products, and to share their successes in environmental stewardship.
The conference focused on five areas: mercury elimination, worker health and safety, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) reduction, “green” and healthy buildings, and reprocessing of single-use medical devices.
What made this event different from most other health care environmental meetings was the presence of senior management levels from major health care networks. It was refreshing to hear leaders in health care speak of issues such as mercury elimination, PVC reduction, and other efforts to reduce pollution through more intelligent purchasing. We, who work in waste management and hospital environmentalism, are used to hearing what needs to be done; what was really different was learning about how it was done from upper managment’s perspective.
Leaders such as Sharon O’Keefe, COO of Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Joseph W. Hummel, Sr., VP for Contracts and Purchasing for Kaiser Permanente, Tom Gruber, VP of Material Management, Catholic Health Care East, and other top-level decision-makers gave powerful demonstrations of what can be accomplished when hospital administrators stand behind environmental initiatives.
Their presentations were not just about cost-savings, but about commitment to making their facilities safer, more efficient, and in-line with their mission statements. It is the kind of leadership we need in health care: people who recognize the ethical responsibility involved in running a health care institution; people who have a passionate belief in doing the right things for their communities.
Environmental issues have definitely moved from back-door solutions like segregating the cardboard for recycling, to making system-wide policies to reduce unnecessary packaging, increase recyclability of products, decrease toxicity, promote reuse, and prevent waste at the point of purchase.
For example, one facility created the following simple questionnaire for evaluating a product up for purchase:1) Is it necessary? 2) Is it clinically acceptable? 3) Is it reasonably priced? 4) Are there comparable products to consider?
Then, each product is rated according to the following criteria: 1) Is it toxin free? 2) Does it emit toxins to the environment? 3) What is the environmental impact of this product? 4) Is it hypoallergenic? 5) Is it energy efficient? 6) Is it made of recyclable material? 7) Is it reusable? 8) What is its packaging material, and what is the manufacturer’s involvement with pollution prevention?
Efforts to reduce waste at the point of purchase may take more coordination at the start, but the result is a much more sustainable clinic operation, which can result in cost-savings, positive environmental impact, and greater efficiency. With health care networks growing in size, purchasing decisions can create strong ripples that impact multiple sites in the network all at once.
CleanMed 2001 also offered the opportunity for vendors to showcase their products, including: sustainable building materials, PVC-free medical devices and equipment, mercury free devices, less-toxic cleaning products, and a glutaraldehyde-free sterilant, to name but a few.
Experts helped attendees understand the hazards posed by products made of PVC, how toxins can leach into the substances enclosed in PVC containers, and why health care institutions should look for PVC alternatives. Jamie Harvie, of the Health Care Without Harm coalition, explained the hazards of mercury-containing products and how to find alternatives to them.
Lizabeth Taghavi, of Kaiser Permanente’s Eastern hub, shared Kaiser’s methods for evaluating cleaning products and making institution-wide decisions favoring less-toxic choices that do not increase costs.
Attendees left the event revitalized with fresh ideas, energy, and commitment to realizing our professional and personal goals of providing quality care and maintaining a safe, health-promoting environment.
To learn more about future CleanMed events, or find vendors of environmentally-friendly medical or building supplies, visit the CleanMed website at www.cleanmed.org, or contact the environmental health fund at 617-524-6018.
