Barnesville Hospital Wins H2E Award

Accepting the Partners for Change Award from Lindsay Robinson, Vice-President of the
American Hospital Association and Laura Brennen, Executive Director, Hospitals for a
Healthy Environment is Anne Smith, Environmental Services Supervisor at Barnesville Hospital

Barnesville Hospital has won top honors from a national group for efforts to reduce waste, virtually eliminate mercury, and minimize the use of toxic products. The award was presented by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), a non-profit group focused on improving health care`s environmental performance. "Barnesville Hospital is leading the national movement for sustainable health care,` said Laura Brannen, director of Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. "They are to be commended for their visionary efforts to create a healthier environment for their patients, staff, and community, and for setting the example for other hospitals to follow."

"We`re are very proud to receive this award," said David Phillips, Director of Materials and Facilities at Barnesville Hospital. "Our Green Team works hard to ensure that our actions honor our pledge to be good environmental stewards. This award puts us among a select group of hospitals nationwide to accomplish this."

H2E is based on the vision of a healthy health care system - a system that embraces safer building products, clean air, energy and water efficiency, safe working practices, and a commitment to public health demonstrated through waste volume and toxicity reduction. Jointly founded by the American Hospital Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Without Harm, and the American Nurses Association, H2E educates health care professionals about pollution prevention opportunities, rewards the sector`s best performers, and provides a wealth of practical tools and resources to facilitate the industry`s movement toward environmental sustainability.

In May 2005, Barnesville Hospital formed a Green Team with members from Nursing, Information Systems, Environmental Services, Cardiopulmonary, Laboratory, and Ohio Hills Health Services. Since its` inception, the Green Team has completed a mercury use assessment, reduced infectious waste shipped, began recycling cardboard and shredded paper, distributed an OSHA approved Waste Segregation Guideline to improve awareness, started a new intranet website to regenerate and reuse hard goods throughout the system, and recycled cell phones by donating to a local charity.

"Here at Barnesville Hospital, we believe that protecting the health of our environment is crucial to protecting the health of the community we serve," said Anne Smith, chairperson of Barnesville Hospital`s Green Team. "Because of this, we are committed to continually improving our environmental impact to make our hospital safer and healthier for our patients, staff, community, and the global environment."

The H2E Partners for Change Award recognizes hospitals that acknowledge and act upon the crucial link between community and environmental health. The award is given annually to facilities that have made significant and sustainable progress toward reducing waste, preventing pollution, and eliminating mercury. Recipients reduce, reuse, and/or recycle at least 10% of their total waste each year, and often find that these pollution prevention programs benefit both their communities and their bottom line.

The leading national force in helping hospitals with environmental improvement, H2E provides practical solutions through a website full of resources, regular teleconferences offering expert help for environmental challenges, and a listserv where colleagues across the country share best practices and strategies for pollution prevention. At CleanMed 2006, H2E honors nearly 200 facilities for environmental excellence through its annual awards program. To learn more, visit H2E Online or contact Anne Smith, Supervisor of Environmental Services at 425-3941.