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EPA’s Trailblazer Awards Honor Four Philadelphia-area Hospitals

Release Date: 10/30/2008
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron.donna@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (October 30, 2008) -- In a ceremony today at the annual meeting of the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, Trailblazer Awards went to four Philadelphia-area Hospitals for their environmental leadership. The recipients were Lower Bucks Hospital (Bristol); Methodist Hospital (Philadelphia); St. Mary Medical Center; (Langhorne) and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“By creating internal teams to address a variety of issues, including waste reduction and increased recycling, these hospitals are demonstrating leadership and innovation in reducing their environmental footprint,” said Tai-Ming Chang, deputy director of the Environmental and Innovation Assessment Division in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-Atlantic region.

The Trailblazer Awards were presented to these hospitals for regional leadership in establishing Green Teams and developing waste minimization strategies and practices resulting in significant waste reduction and increased recycling. During a twelve month period beginning in July 2007, the four organizations collectively reduced their total medical waste by 27 percent from 195,609 to 142,000 pounds.

The four winners are part of the Green Hospitals Pilot Project, which is funded by EPA’s mid-Atlantic Region as a grant to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Southeast Regional Office. Its objective is to help Delaware Valley hospitals reduce their environmental footprint.

The EPA also honored three organizations that have been key to successfully moving hospitals in the Delaware Valley toward more sustainable operations with a smaller environmental footprint:

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Southeast Regional Office
Health Care Improvement Foundation
Women’s Health & Environmental Network

In addition, several hospitals which were honored last spring by the Practice Greenhealth organization at the annual Clean Med Conference were again recognized at the Delaware Valley Health Care annual meeting:

St. Mary Medical Center received Partner Recognition
Doylestown Hospital and the Philadelphia Veterans’ Administration Medical Center
received the Making Medicine Mercury-Free Award
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Veterans’ Administration Medical Center, and Shriners Hospital for Children each received the Partner of Change award.