Sacred Heart Hospital earns 2011 Environmental Leadership Award

Contact: Shannon Portell, Communications & Marketing, (715) 271-2681

Eau Claire, WI – On April 6, Sacred Heart Hospital was awarded the Environmental Leadership Award at CleanMed, an international conference on environmentally sustainable healthcare, held this year in Phoenix. The award was given to the hospital by Practice Greenhealth for demonstrating the highest degree of commitment to environmental sustainability. This year marks the fourth consecutive year that Sacred Heart Hospital has earned this prestigious award.

“All of our members are committed to improving health care’s environmental performance, but there is an illustrious group of facilities setting the highest standards,” said Practice Greenhealth Executive Director Anna Gilmore Hall. “They are the best of the best, the recipients of our top award. Sacred Heart Hospital has introduced extensive environmental strategies into health care and is committed to achieving further improvements.”

The Environmental Leadership Award (ELA) is the nation’s most prestigious recognition of innovation in environmentally responsible healthcare. As an ELA recipient, Sacred Heart Hospital has again been inducted into Practice Greenhealth’s Environmental Leadership Circle ─ an honor that recognizes hospitals in the vanguard of environmental progress in healthcare for creating a healthy environment for patients, employees, physicians and their communities.

Stacey Powell, assistant director of surgical services at Sacred Heart Hospital and Jenine Gigliotti, Med Tech and leader of Sacred Heart Hospital’s Green Team, received the award on behalf of hospital colleagues.

“At Sacred Heart Hospital, protecting our environment is a part of our Franciscan commitment to the people of our community and their environment,” said Powell. “It’s critical to our mission as a Catholic hospital and to our community’s long-term health. It’s the right thing to do, and we are committed to continually making our hospital safer and healthier for everyone. Our present and future efforts will assist us in reducing waste, energy and costs – costs which we can then reinvest in patient care and in our facility.”

Practice Greenhealth is the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Members include hospitals, healthcare systems, businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the greening of healthcare to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment. Practice Greenhealth is a source of environmental solutions for the health care sector.

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