Valley Medical Center is on the national radar for environmental excellence as the recent recipient of Practice Greenhealth’s 2019 Partner Recognition Award at the Environmental Excellence Award Gala held May 9, 2019 in Nashville. The most prestigious honor for those committed to healthcare sustainability, Practice Greenhealth’s Environmental Excellence Awards recognize healthcare facilities, health sector suppliers, and member organizations for making a commitment to and progressing toward environmental stewardship and sustainability. The Partner Recognition Award recognizes facilities with a commitment to environmental improvements, achieving progress in several areas of the organization.
Sustainability Committee co-chairs Kim Miller, Director Environmental Services and Jeremy Wyatt, Manager Perioperative Services accepted the award at the gala, culminating their attendance at the 2019 CleanMed conference. “We learned that we’re leaps and bounds ahead of many hospitals, but of course there’s still so much to improve,” they say. “With the combined energy and commitment of our Valley employees, we’re shooting to rank in the Top 25 for environmental excellence nationally.” In fact this year, five of the Top 25 hospitals were from the Seattle area, including two UW Medicine hospitals, UW Medical Center and Harborview.
Kim and Jeremy presented the award to Valley’s enthusiastic Board of Trustees on May 14. As a gesture support of the organization’s sustainability efforts and in response to the award, the Board agreed to ban disposable plastic water bottles form the Board Room. (Pictured in the photo above, L to R: Jeremy Wyatt, Board Chair Donna Russell, Kim Miller, CEO Rich Roodman.)
About Practice Greenhealth
Valley became a member of the Practice Greenhealth organization last year. A national organization with the mission to transform healthcare worldwide by reducing healthcare’s environmental footprint, helping healthcare organizations become a community anchor for sustainability and acting as a leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice. Valley’s relationship with Practice Greenhealth brings benefits like:
- Customized guidance and access to ideas and educational content to move our efforts forward
- Access to PGH’s benchmark report to evaluate our efforts against other facilities
- Networking with other facilities
- Standing to enter the PGH award process which required the Sustainability Committee to assemble & evaluate Valley’s sustainability efforts as an organization
