Public Health

University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle). UW Medical Center is the academic medical center of UW, which is devoted to sustainability in its own right — it earned a perfect rating and a spot on The Princeton Review’s Green Honor…

University of Vermont Medical Center (Burlington). UVM Medical Center’s green efforts date back to 1989 when a nurse started a recycling program on her unit. Now, the hospital boasts both a Green Team and a management-level Sustainability Council to create…

University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor). U-M Hospitals and Health Center’s Environmental Stewardship Steering Committee and its subcommittees oversee the organization’s sustainability efforts. As part of its commitment to the environment, the system requires all new buildings,…

University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore). UMMC’s Green Team formed in 2007 to help the hospital reduce environmental risks, promote the welfare and health of the environment and to take responsibility in promoting conservation and environmental stewardship. The hospital’s commitment…

University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center (Beachwood, Ohio). UH Ahuja Medical Center was the first hospital in the nation to receive LEED New Construction 2009 certification, boasting a LEED Silver certification. Its design includes water runoff reduction features in the landscape…

UCSF Medical Center/UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital (San Francisco). UCSF Medical Center has made several commitments to sustainability, including buying reusable medical devices and reusable pillows, thus producing less medical waste and saving money, and changing menus to include 26 percent…

St. Cloud (Minn.) VA Health Care System. This VA hospital prioritizes green, sustainable practices in its day-to-day operations, according to its Green Environmental Management Services Coordinator Mary Wenck. Sustainability is an “organizational imperative,” she said. While many of the system’s…

Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital (Grand Rapids, Mich.). The entire Spectrum Health system is dedicated to protecting the environment, with a 30 percent average recycling rate systemwide. Blodgett Hospital in particular has excelled at recycling and waste management, and Practice Greenhealth…

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital-Boston. Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston is green in multiple aspects, from its building to its energy use to other sustainability projects. For instance, the hospital opened a new facility in April 2013 that is now LEED Gold…

Seattle Children’s Hospital. Seattle Children’s sees more than 600 admissions due to asthma each year, and the hospital is attempting to reduce its carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions to help children with asthma. It offers its employees an alternative…