Green Healthcare
It has never occurred to me to think 'green' in the health care industry until now. With the informative sessions in this course, I have come to appreciate the environment more, and none so more than in the healthcare setting. I have always worked in a hospital setting for the last 25 years, and it has always irked me on how hospitals waste so much supply of their instruments, patient care supplies, medications and equipment. An opened package for one item caused the entire medical supply package to be discarded. At one hospital I worked at, any sterile packages that were opened and not used went into the mission storage supply to be distributed to less affluent countries but for the most part, very little of the sterile and clean supplies were recycled. One example is, plastics that are not contaminated with human secretions are not allowed to go into recycling including the water and soda pop bottles and cans that patients and staff use. When I asked why couldn't these items be sent to a recycling center, I was told because the items came from a hospital, it could not go to a recycling plant for fear of contamination. Instead, these recyclables now fill our our landfill sites.
I belong to the ANHE for a fellowship program on environmental health and I am currently working in my community to improve land use zoning and development. There is also the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) that deals with environmental and occupational issues in the more vulnerable populations.
I like the idea of 'green health care', it has to involve every aspect of the contributing industries, occupations and the growth of the economy.
You are right Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI want also share that at SFVA Medical Center, The Green team initiatives are part of a coordinated effort to help make the Veterans Integrated Service more sustainable through the work of the Green Team, which includes representatives from all six SFVAMC campuses. “As a large network of medical centers serving over 2.5 million Veterans a year”.
One thing concerns me greatly about the climate crisis. Healthcare needs plastic primarily to maintain sterility through single-use applications. One idea might to keep healthcare plastic recycling in a closed loop. Plastic from healthcare can only be recycled into other healthcare materials.
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