Boston Medical Center (BMC) is the recipient of the 2015 Greenhealth Emerald Award and the Circles for Excellence Award by Practice Greenhealth in recognition of the hospital's sustainability efforts and innovation. BMC is the only Boston hospital to receive the Greenhealth Emerald Award and one of only ten hospitals in the country to receive the Circles of Excellence Climate Award.
Practice Greenhealth is one of the nation's leading health care organization that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge.
BMC has been an innovator in the health care community for its sustainability efforts. The hospital has signficantly reduced its carbon footprint by partnering with the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association to provide fresh fish to patients and guests in the cafeteria while supporting the local fishing community; increasing BMC's overall recycling rate by 50 percent over the past year; implementing a bio-digester that diverts over one ton of food waste per month from the waste stream; increasing access to electric charging stations in parking garages and capacity of on-site bicycle cages; and diverting several tons of medical equipment to the International Medical Equipment Collaborative, a non-profit organization that sends the equipment to medical clinics in third world countries.
"Boston Medical Center is committed to improving the health of our patients, staff and community through various efforts, including numerous sustainability programs," said David Maffeo, senior director of support services and co-chair of the Green Committee at BMC. "It is an honor to receive the Greenhealth Emerald Award as recognition of the commitment of all BMC staff, and we look forward to continuing this work to shape the future of health care sustainability."
BMC is one of ten hospitals in the nation to receive the 2015 Circles of Excellence Climate Award for several infrastructure changes on campus including a duct redesign of the Yawkey building, chiller plant optimization, air handler conversion in the Menino building, and conversion of light switches to sensors which resulted in dramatic electricity savings.
"BMC has made a conscious effort to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the hospital's campus while providing the best possible environment for the community around us," said Leo LaRosa, director of infrastructure and utility management at BMC.
The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards were presented to David Maffeo and Leo LaRosa on May 14 in Portland, Oregon, at the CleanMed Conference & Exhibition, an environmental conference for leaders in health care sustainability.
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About Boston Medical Center
Boston Medical Center is a private, not-for-profit, 482-bed, academic medical center that is the primary teaching affiliate of Boston University School of Medicine. It is the largest and busiest provider of trauma and emergency services in New England. Committed to providing high-quality health care to all, the hospital offers a full spectrum of pediatric and adult care services including primary and family medicine and advanced specialty care with an emphasis on community-based care. Boston Medical Center offers specialized care for complex health problems and is a leading research institution, receiving more than $118 million in sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2014. It is the 11th largest recipient of funding in the U.S. from the National Institutes of Health among independent hospitals. In 1997, BMC founded Boston Medical Center Health Plan, Inc., now one of the top ranked Medicaid MCOs in the country, as a non-profit managed care organization. It does business in Massachusetts as BMC HealthNet Plan and as Well Sense Health Plan in New Hampshire, serving more than 315,000 people, collectively. Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine are partners in the Boston HealthNet - 14 community health centers focused on providing exceptional health care to residents of Boston. For more information, please visit http://www.bmc.org .
About Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading health care community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge. To learn more about Practice Greenhealth visit http://www.practicegreenhealth.org .