Awards

Becker’s Hospital Review names 50 of the greenest hospitals in America 2016

October 24, 2016

Becker’s Hospital Review is pleased to name 50 hospitals as some of the greenest hospitals in America.

As hospitals continue to embrace population health management programs, many have started thinking about how their environmental footprint affects the health and well-being of their communities. The 50 hospitals on this list have fully committed to being environmentally friendly, as evidenced by the robust programs they have implemented and awards and recognitions they have won for their efforts.

To compile this list, the Becker’s editorial team considered nominations and conducted editorial research, looking at awards won from Practice Greenhealth, the U.S. Green Building Council, the American Society for Healthcare Engineering and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Note: This list is not intended to be comprehensive and is not intended to be a ranking or to be an endorsement of included hospitals. Hospitals could not pay for inclusion on this list. 

 

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Advocate Christ Medical Center (Oak Lawn, Ill.). Advocate Christ Medical Center is one of Advocate Health Care’s most decorated hospitals when it comes to environmental sustainability efforts. [READ MORE] 

Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital (Downers Grove, Ill.). This Advocate hospital, which celebrates 40 years of serving patients this year, was honored with Practice Greenhealth’s Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award for 2016.[READ MORE] 

Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center (Chicago). This year, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center earned several prestigious awards for its energy conservation and sustainability efforts. [READ MORE] 

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (Park Ridge, Ill.). In 2010, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital became the first hospital in the Midwest to achieve LEED Gold certification. [READ MORE]

Advocate Trinity Hospital (Chicago). This Advocate hospital on the South Side of Chicago established its Green Committee in 2008 to work with the system’s Green Council to build a culture of environmental awareness. [READ MORE]

Aspen (Colo.) Valley Hospital. This hospital earned LEED Gold certification in 2014 for its new hospital construction, becoming just the second hospital in the state to earn that designation. [READ MORE] 

Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak (Mich.). This hospital’s Green Team is 700 members strong, and the team volunteers their time to implement waste-reducing, energy-conserving solutions and to educate colleagues on conservation. [READ MORE] 

Bon Secours St. Francis Eastside (Greenville, S.C.). St. Francis Eastside has a variety of sustainability projects and initiatives in place to help save energy and be more efficient. [READ MORE] 

Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital (Richmond, Va.). St. Mary’s Hospital is part of Marriottsville, Md.-based Bon Secours Health System, which received Practice Greenhealth’s 2016 System for Change Award for the sixth year in a row. [READ MORE] 

Boston Medical Center. Boston Medical Center received the City of Boston Carbon Cup in 2015 for its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2020. [READ MORE] 

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston). Brigham and Women’s physical buildings, as well as its policies, are committed to protecting the environment. [READ MORE] 

Bronson Methodist Hospital (Kalamazoo, Mich.). Bronson Methodist Hospital is a sustainability leader in its community, starting on its sustainability journey in 1996 when it began a mercury-free initiative. [READ MORE] 

Children’s Health (Dallas). As of July, about a quarter of Children’s Health’s total electricity use is backed by renewable energy credits, equivalent to removing more than 16 million pounds per year of carbon dioxide from nature.[READ MORE] 

Cleveland Clinic. In 2011, Cleveland Clinic committed to the Better Buildings Challenge issued by President Barack Obama to reduce energy use by 20 percent. [READ MORE] 

Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital (Garfield Heights, Ohio). This hospital opened a new surgery center in March 2012 that is LEED Gold certified, boasting water efficiency, energy savings and improved air quality through its design. [READ MORE] 

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, N.H.). Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has a history of sustainability efforts — for example, it has had dedicated waste managers since 1991. [READ MORE] 

Erie (Pa.) VA Medical Center. This 60-bed facility with more than 700 employees has a history of dedication to efficiency and sustainability. [READ MORE] 

Gundersen Health System (La Crosse, Wis.). In 2008, Gundersen Health set a goal to control rising energy costs and improve health, and it reached a major milestone in 2014 when it became the first health system in the nation to achieve energy independence. [READ MORE] 

Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. HackensackUMC boasts The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center, one of the first hospital-based programs with a specific mission to identify, control and prevent toxic exposure in the environment that could threaten children’s health. [READ MORE] 

Harborview Medical Center (Seattle). For the fifth consecutive year, Harborview Medical Center received the Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award from Practice Greenhealth in 2016. [READ MORE] 

Inova Fairfax Hospital (Falls Church, Va.). The Inova system is a founding sponsor of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, and Inova Fairfax is committed to all six HHI Challenges. [READ MORE] 

Iowa Methodist Medical Center (Des Moines). Iowa Methodist Medical Center, part of UnityPoint Health, is committed to reducing operating room waste, and created a partnership with Iowa Prison Industries in October 2015 to do so. [READ MORE] 

James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center (Altoona, Pa.). For the third consecutive year, the James Van Zandt VA Medical Center received one of Practice Greenhealth’s Top 25 Environmental Excellence Awards in 2016. [READ MORE] 

Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore). Johns Hopkins Hospital became a member of Practice Greenhealth in 2014 and has won the Greenhealth Emerald Award from Practice Greenhealth for three consecutive years, most recently in 2016. [READ MORE] 

Kaiser Permanente Irvine (Calif.) Medical Center. The Kaiser Permanente system’s Environmental Stewardship program has lofty environmental goals, aiming, among other things, to become carbon net positive; recycle, reuse or compost 100 percent of its non-hazardous waste; and reduce water use 25 percent, all by 2025. [READ MORE] 

Kaiser Permanente San Jose (Calif.) Medical Center. Kaiser Permanente San Jose hosts two weekly farmers markets on campus, serves hormone-free milk in cafeterias and offers Meatless Monday options to reduce meat consumption. [READ MORE] 

Lakeview Hospital (Stillwater, Minn.). This hospital is part of Bloomington, Minn.-based HealthPartners, which earned a System for Change Award this year from Practice Greenhealth. [READ MORE] 

Littleton (Colo.) Adventist Hospital. Littleton Adventist Hospital formed its Green Team in 2008 to establish an environmentally responsible culture and promote environmental awareness. [READ MORE] 

Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC (Pittsburgh). Several aspects of UPMC’s Pittsburgh campus are designed for sustainability, including Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, which has a LEED Silver certification for its intensive care unit and patient care unit expansions. [READ MORE] 

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City). Memorial Sloan Kettering established a Green Team in 2009 to find opportunities to reduce waste and improve sustainability. [READ MORE] 

Metro Health Hospital (Wyoming, Mich.). Metro Health Hospital is the first full-service hospital in the state to earn LEED certification from the Green Building Council thanks to a number of green building features, including a 48,500-square-foot green roof that minimizes storm water runoff. [READ MORE] 

Minneapolis VA Health Care System. Sustainability is part of Minneapolis VA Health Care System’s day-to-day operations, according to the system’s Green Environmental Management Services Coordinator George Johnson, and it shows with its accomplishments. [READ MORE] 

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian’s Senior Executive Sustainability Committee has strategic oversight of its sustainability program, NYPgreen. NYPgreen’s initiatives run the gamut of sustainability programs and policies. [READ MORE] 

NorthShore University HealthSystem Evanston (Ill.) Hospital. As a system, NorthShore is committed to work for a healthier environment and reduce its environmental footprint. [READ MORE] 

NorthShore University HealthSystem Glenbrook Hospital (Glenview, Ill.). In addition to being part of NorthShore, a system committed to being environmentally friendly as a whole, Glenbrook Hospital itself is also going green.[READ MORE] 

Parkland Memorial Hospital (Dallas). Parkland Memorial Hospital and its Women & Infants Special Health Clinic were awarded LEED Gold certification for its new building in 2015. [READ MORE] 

Reading (Pa.) Health Hospital. The Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical & Patient Care will open to patients in October and its design is exemplary of the health system’s commitment to protecting and preserving the environment. [READ MORE] 

Seattle Children’s Hospital. Seattle Children’s sees more than 600 admissions due to asthma each year, and the hospital is attempting to reduce its carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions to help children with asthma.[READ MORE] 

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital-Boston. Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston is green in multiple aspects, from its building to its energy use to other sustainability projects. [READ MORE] 

Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital (Grand Rapids, Mich.). The entire Spectrum Health system is dedicated to protecting the environment, with a 30 percent average recycling rate systemwide. [READ MORE] 

St. Cloud (Minn.) VA Health Care System. This VA hospital prioritizes green, sustainable practices in its day-to-day operations, according to its Green Environmental Management Services Coordinator Mary Wenck. Sustainability is an “organizational imperative,” she said. [READ MORE]

UCSF Medical Center/UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital (San Francisco). UCSF Medical Center has made several commitments to sustainability, including buying reusable medical devices and reusable pillows, thus producing less medical waste and saving money, and changing menus to include 26 percent sustainably grown items. [READ MORE] 

University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center (Beachwood, Ohio). UH Ahuja Medical Center was the first hospital in the nation to receive LEED New Construction 2009 certification, boasting a LEED Silver certification. [READ MORE] 

University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore). UMMC’s Green Team formed in 2007 to help the hospital reduce environmental risks, promote the welfare and health of the environment and to take responsibility in promoting conservation and environmental stewardship. [READ MORE] 

University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor). U-M Hospitals and Health Center’s Environmental Stewardship Steering Committee and its subcommittees oversee the organization’s sustainability efforts. [READ MORE] 

University of Vermont Medical Center (Burlington). UVM Medical Center’s green efforts date back to 1989 when a nurse started a recycling program on her unit. [READ MORE] 

University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle). UW Medical Center is the academic medical center of UW, which is devoted to sustainability in its own right — it earned a perfect rating and a spot on The Princeton Review‘s Green Honor Roll in 2015. [READ MORE] 

Virginia Mason Hospital & Medical Center (Seattle). Virginia Mason’s commitment to sustainability dates back to the 1980s, when it started recycling. [READ MORE] 

William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital (Madison, Wis.). The William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital formally committed to environmental sustainability in 2005 when it established its Green Environmental Management System in June 2005. [READ MORE] 

Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. Yale-New Haven Hospital supports commuting employees through transit pass subsidies, bike storage and other programs, resulting in decreased car usage and, therefore, decreased greenhouse gas emissions. [READ MORE]

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