The U-M Health System was one of 27 health care facilities nationally recognized as an environmental leader at the Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards. A total of 140 health care organizations accepted awards at the May event, which took place in conjunction with the CleanMed 2008 global conference in Pittsburgh.
The awards recognize health care systems and organizations that find creative and innovative ways to achieve long-term sustainability. By transforming their own facilities, these organizations influence suppliers and help business partners reduce their impact on the environment.
“All of our award winners are committed to improving health care’s environmental performance, but there is an illustrious group of facilities setting the highest standards,” says Bob Jarboe, executive director of Practice Greenhealth. “The University of Michigan Health System has introduced extensive environmental strategies into the business of health care and is committed to achieving further improvements.”
UMHS has implemented a variety of eco-friendly programs focusing on energy conservation, waste management and environmental education. It has continued to enforce its Environmental Stewardship campaign, which launched in 2006 to re-energize faculty, staff and students’ efforts to minimize their impact on the environment. One of U-M’s most recent programs — a Web-based application called GreenRide (www.umich.greenride.com) — promotes shared transportation by making it easier for employees to find other individuals who would like to carpool or vanpool.
Environmental Leadership Award winners are chosen from among the top Partners for Change applications; they must meet criteria for the Making Medicine Mercury-Free Award and have extensive pollution prevention and recycling programs in place. Facilities and systems receiving an Environmental Leadership Award are inducted into the Environmental Leadership Circle, a lifetime honor for exemplary achievement.
