How Green Practices Can Save Hospitals Millions

Hospitals and health systems are increasingly moving toward the implementation of environmentally friendly practices. While this has obvious benefits to both the environment and patient quality, hospitals could save millions of dollars on their bottom lines, according to Practice Greenhealth's 2012 Sustainability Benchmark Report (pdf).

Practice Greenhealth's report presents data on several sustainability trends among hospitals and health systems, such as waste generation, recycling, greening the operating room, water conservation, energy efficiency and medical device usage.

One hundred and forty-nine hospitals and health systems received Practice Greenhealth's 2012 Environmental Excellence Awards, and the benchmark report outlined how those 149 hospitals saved a cumulative $55 million through green practices.

•    Reprocessing of single-use devices: $18.3 million saved
•    Recycling: $16.8 million saved
•    Electricity efficiency: $14.3 million saved
•    Natural gas efficiency: $1.4 million saved
•    Water efficiency: $1.3 million saved
•    Steam efficiency: $975,000 saved
•    Reusable sharps container programs: $749,000 saved
•    Solvent distillation: $494,000 saved
•    Fuel oil efficiency: $165,000 saved

More Articles on Hospital Green Management:

18 Statistics on Hospital Energy Consumption

White House Event Focuses on Improving Environmental Sustainability of Hospitals

Green Saves Green: How Baptist Health South Florida's Environmental Strategy is Paying Off

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