The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Women’s Health and Environmental Network for their efforts to protect the environment.

“These organizations deserve credit for exploring ways to reduce pollution at their facilities and others in the healthcare industry,” said Donald S. Welsh, EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator. “They’re spreading the understanding that having hospitals with healthy environments goes hand-in-hand with protecting people’s health.”

The three winners are participants in EPA’s Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), a voluntary program focusing on pollution prevention and waste reduction at health care facilities. By becoming an H2E partner, a hospital commits to setting priorities and goals to reduce its environmental impact on patients, workers, and the surrounding community.

Partners and champions work together on a wide array of environmental issues, including eliminating mercury, reducing regulated medical waste, recycling, and green cleaning.

For example, Jefferson and Pennsylvania hospitals have virtually eliminated the use of mercury thermometers and blood pressure cuffs containing mercury from their facilities, have increased recycling, and are better managing waste.

The organization WHEN is an H2E champion and works to get area hospitals to reduce environmental harm to patients by changing hospitals’ practices and educating staff and patients.

EPA also presented certificates to the Department of Environmental Protection’s Southeast Regional Office, Catholic Health East, and representatives of 17 Delaware Valley area hospitals that have joined the H2E program.

The H2E partnership organization was established in 1998. In addition to EPA, the national partnership includes the American Hospitals Association, the American Nurses Association, and Healthcare Without Harm.

For more information, visit the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment website.

5/5/2006