In recognition of our commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability, Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) has received the 2020 Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award, the nation’s premier recognition program for environmental performance in the healthcare sector. The Top 25 awards recognizes health care facilities and health systems with comprehensive sustainability programs and an organizational culture focused on environmental stewardship.
The award is Practice Greenhealth’s highest honor for hospitals based on a rigorous scoring system and honors success in a range of sustainability programs. Initiatives that contributed to SBUH’s award include:
● Rooftop vegetable garden providing fresh produce to patients
● Kids healthy cooking classes utilizing rooftop garden produce
● Removing Styrofoam from food service and replacing with eco-friendly materials
● Implementing a composting program
● Increasing Pharmacy recycling of plastics totaling 20 pounds per week
● Developing a Clean Energy Master Plan
● Creation of a green revolving fund
● Histology Laboratory recycled 800 lbs. of paraffin wax
● Total recycling of 942.98 tons
In addition, Stony Brook University Hospital received the Chemicals Circle of Excellence Award. The Circles of Excellence award recognizes up to 10 of the highest performing hospitals for each individual category of environmental performance. The Chemicals Circle award recognized Stony Brook University Hospital’s efforts to address the reduction of product toxicity through the procurement process addressing the elimination of “Chemicals of Concern”, where viable.
SBUH also received the Greening the OR Recognition Award, which honors facilities that have made substantial progress in reducing the impact of the surgical environment, for the third year in a row.
These recognitions are the culmination of a three-year journey and a direct result of the efforts by Stony Brook Medicine’s Healthcare Sustainability Committee. The Committee is focused on sustainability efforts and increasing stakeholder engagement to foster a healthier environment for patients, staff and faculty. They manage several subcommittees, each with its own initiative which includes less waste, safer chemicals, greening the OR, healthy foods, environmentally preferable purchasing, green building, and energy/water conservation.
As health care providers, we all share an essential responsibility to care for our communities and each other. These recognitions are a testament to the work that we do all year round to develop and adhere to the sustainability strategic plan and the successful initiatives that create a healthier environment of care for our staff, visitors and patients.