Evans Army Community Hospital (EACH) recently won two prestigious sustainment awards from Practice Greenhealth, a national organization focused on reducing medical waste throughout hospitals.
EACH received the Greenhealth Emerald Award and Greening the OR (Operating Room) Recognition.
Medical waste not only includes packaging and single use items, it also consists of energy, greenhouse gasses, water, food and pharmaceutical waste.
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.
EACH is the first military health facility to implement a reusable Sharps container program, according to Winburn. This program recycles hypodermic needle disposal containers for repeated use, saving an estimated $28,000 annually and diverts about five tons of nonbiodegradable plastic from landfills.
Another project that helps sustainment efforts at EACH 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 number is featured at the top of the unit showing the potential number of plastic bottles kept out of landfills.
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 EACH closer to Fort Carson Net Zero goals, but it is also another opportunity to compete for sustainability awards, such as those offered by Greenhealth.
This year marks the sixth year EACH has entered the competition, the fifth time the hospital earned the Emerald Award and the third time it earned Greening the OR Recognition.
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.