Area Hospitals Commit to Healthy Environment

Release date: 05/05/2006

Contact Information: Bonnie Lomax, 215-814-5542 & Mike Frankel, 215-814-2665

PHILADELPHIA - In a ceremony today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded two Philadelphia area hospitals and a women’s health organization for helping to protect the environment. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Women’s Health and Environmental Network (WHEN) were among 193 organizations nation-wide to be named by EPA for their environmental leadership in the healthcare industry.

“These organizations deserve credit for exploring ways to reduce pollution at their facilities and others in the healthcare industry,” said Donald S. Welsh, EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator. “They’re spreading the understanding that having hospitals with healthy environments goes hand-in-hand with protecting people’s health.”

The three winners are participants in EPA’s Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), a voluntary program focusing on pollution prevention and waste reduction at health care facilities. By becoming an H2E partner, a hospital commits to setting priorities and goals to reduce its environmental impact on patients, workers, and the surrounding community. Partners and champions work together on a wide array of environmental issues, including eliminating mercury, reducing regulated medical waste, recycling, and green cleaning.

For example, Jefferson and Pennsylvania hospitals have virtually eliminated the use of mercury thermometers and blood pressure cuffs containing mercury from their facilities, have increased recycling, and are better managing waste. The organization WHEN is an H2E champion and works to get area hospitals to reduce environmental harm to patients by changing hospitals’ practices and educating staff and patients.

During the awards ceremony, EPA’s Welsh presented certificates to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Southeast Regional Office, Catholic Health East, and representatives of 17 Delaware Valley area hospitals that have joined the H2E program. (See the attached list of recipients).

The H2E partnership organization was established in 1998. In addition to EPA, the national partnership includes the American Hospitals Association, the American Nurses Association, and Healthcare Without Harm. For more information about H2E or becoming a partner, visit the website at http://www.h2e-online.org.

Champion for Change H2E Award
Women’s Health and Environmental Network (WHEN)

Partner for Change H2E Award
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Partner Recognition H2E Award
Pennsylvania Hospital

Making Medicine Mercury Free H2E Award
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Region III Champion Recognition Certificate
Women’s Health and Environmental Network (WHEN)
Catholic Health East Health System
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Southeast Regional Office

Region III Partner Recognition Certificate
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia
Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) –St. Joseph Medical Center, Reading
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Crozer Chester Medical Center, Upland
Delaware County Memorial Hospital
Hahnemann Hospital, Philadelphia
Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center, Meadowbrook
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Jeanes Hospital Temple University Health System, Philadelphia
Kensington Hospital, Philadelphia
Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown
Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol
Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia
Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia
St. Luke’s Hospital and Health Network, Bethlehem
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia

Region III Individual Recognition

Ed Barr, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Paul Buckley, Albert Einstein Medical Center
Fran Paul, Albert Einstein Medical Center


06-125