Photo By Alexandra Shea | Evans Army Community Hospital Command Sgt. Maj. Frederico Conde, Leo R. Winburn, Evans...... read more read more
Evans Army Community Hospital recently won two prestigious sustainment awards from Practice Greenhealth, a national organization focused on reducing medical waste throughout hospitals.
The two awards presented were the Greenhealth Emerald Award and Greening the OR (Operating Room) Recognition.
“Everyone here has contributed to achieving these awards,” said Leo Winburn, chief of Environmental Services, Evans ACH. “We create so much waste.”
Medical waste includes not only waste products from packaging and single use items, it also consists of energy, greenhouse gasses, water, food, and pharmaceutical wastes.
The Environmental Services department and hospital staff members have taken great strides to reduce hospital waste, to include using environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals, microfiber flat mops, single stream recycling and the use of solar farms.
Even the garbage is closely monitored and weighed to determine if sustainability efforts are effective.
“We have saved over 50,000 gallons of water by switching over to flat mops here,” said Winburn.
According to Winburn, Evans ACH is the first military health facility to implement a reusable sharp container program. This program recycles hypodermic needle disposal containers for repeated use, saving an estimated $28,000 annually and diverts about five tons of non-biodegradable plastic from landfills.
Another project that helps sustainment efforts at Evans ACH includes water fountains with reusable bottle-filling stations. Winburn partnered with the hospital’s facility manager, Rashad Rajab, to purchase and install these fountains across the hospital to allow staff and beneficiaries to refill their water bottles. A counter is featured at the top of the unit showing the potential amount of plastic bottles that were kept out of landfills.
“Have you ever seen a landfill? It’s incredible,” said Rajab. “Recycling is extremely important, waste doesn’t just go away.”
Each year, additional projects to promote sustainability are created, researched and implemented if they are found to be viable solutions to recycling needs. Each project not only brings Evans ACH closer to Fort Carson Net Zero goals but also another opportunity to compete for sustainability awards, such as those offered by Greenhealth.
2018 marks the sixth year Evans ACH has entered the competition, as well as the fifth time the hospital earned the Emerald Award and the third time it earned Greening the OR Recognition.
“I’m extremely proud we received the awards,” said Rajab. “It goes to show that our efforts are paying off.”
During the ceremony, Winburn accepted both awards on behalf of the hospital and stated that all the staff and the command team were essential in winning the award.
“If we don’t work together, this won’t work for very long,” said Winburn. “I want my children and grandchildren to be able to continue to live on this planet safely. If everybody just does a little bit, that little bit gets bigger and bigger.”
| Date Taken: | 10.30.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2018 15:38 |
| Story ID: | 299454 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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