The U.S. healthcare industry spends more than $200 billion annually on medical and non-medical products. Unfortunately, many of the products and materials that come into a hospital may be harmful to patients, staff, and visitors, because they may contain or release (during production, use or disposal) carcinogens or toxins. Environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP), in healthcare, means buying products and services that are safer for human health and the environment. Our EPP plans include procedures that expand the scope of environmental purchasing, as new environmentally healthy products are identified. Environmentally preferable purchasing should also help the healthcare facility reduce waste and operate more efficiently, while still placing the safety of patients, staff, and visitors first.
The Product Management Committee (PMC) meets monthly and is focused on Value Analysis and Safety. They discuss what products will be approved for use at the Hospital. We also engage our GPOs to provide details on EPP attributes. There are established agreements for reprocessing and recycling services. Our Product Management Committee continues approval for purchases of all clinical products. End-user departments must document whether the proposed products contain chemicals of concern, including PVC, DEHP, mercury, and lead.
The Chair of our Product Management Committee (PMC) leads the committee to consider the following attributes during the selection process of new or substitute products.
- Use less of it.
- Conserve (e.g., use less water, energy, or virgin resources to produce or use. Energy Star rating).
- Eliminate/reduce waste (e.g., minimal packaging).
- Reduce toxicity (e.g., non-DHEP, no chlorine).
- Ability to recycle.
- Comparable functionality and effectiveness.
- Consideration of total cost of ownership (e.g., unit cost, cost of waste, etc.).
We have trained staff in sustainable procurement. Vizient conducted a presentation to our Commodities group to review and explain the EPP program available through the GPO. Our staff was taught how to access and target sustainable product offerings on the Vizient Contract site.
Goals for 2026:
- Complete project to establish green Lawson product coding, also in compliance with EO22
- Complete standardized procurement across three hospitals
- Continue to review Vizient data to set goals, increasing purchasing for several commodities that Vizient tracks as EPP
Recent Highlights:
Reprocessing
Stony Brook University Hospital collects for reprocessing several categories of single use equipment, including air transfer mattresses, EP catheters, and pulse ox sensors. In CY 2025 the collected items exceeded 13,400 items or 1,214 pounds of avoided waste. That is equivalent to 43,379 water bottles and a GHG offset of more than 39 metric tons. We also purchased reprocessed single use devices at a substantial savings with no additional patient risk, further supporting the marketplace. It is anticipated that the program will continue to expand to additional materials, both as a waste diversion to reprocessing and more sustainable purchasing. From the vendor, for CY 2025:
3D Printing
Equipment repair and renewal have become vital for systems looking to reduce their overall waste and disposable item reliance. At SBUH, this sentiment goes beyond single use device reprocessing. Using in-house 3D printing, our Biomedical Engineering group has managed to create parts to repair damaged equipment. This new printing program is already documenting huge savings in cost, reduction of waste, extension of equipment lifecycle, and increasing availability. The printed parts can often be prepared within a very short period, at a very low cost, and avoid disposal of larger and more expensive pieces of equipment. It changes the procurement process and simple repairs can prolong the life of the device. The 3D printing efforts are limited to items that do not touch patients directly and do not influence patient care. Often, a manufacturer requires a piece of equipment be returned for evaluation before even minor repairs are made. Printing repair pieces onsite avoids the transportation loop (with environmental, fiscal, and inventory management implications), and the period where the equipment is not available for use. Examples of this work include printing a protective cover in front of the monitor’s LED alarm board. When the monitor is transported or roughly handled, the lens becomes loose and breaks, leaving the LED board vulnerable, which can greatly reduce its lifespan. The manufacturer does not sell the lens cover individually, and the replacement lens and LED board costs almost $400 dollars and needs several weeks for delivery. The lens can be printed onsite within 40 minutes at a cost of twenty-one cents, and avoiding transportation costs and delays. Another printed item includes a light cover for neonatal incubators. Replacing just the broken cover, rather than the entire light strip, saved about $1500, and reduced waste and transportation costs.
Recent Recognition:
Stony Brook University Hospital was awarded the Circle of Excellence for Sustainable Procurement by Practice Greenhealth. The Environmentally Preferable Purchasing category celebrates the best in environmentally preferable purchasing programs. Facilities are evaluated on their supporting policies, interactions with suppliers, environmentally preferable contracts, and use of environmental attributes in RFPs and business reviews.
In September 2024, Stony Brook University Hospital won the Vizient Environmental Sustainability Excellence Award in the Comprehensive Academic Medical Center cohort. The award recognizes providers that positively contribute to human and environmental health through responsible purchasing decisions, a commitment to carbon emissions reduction, and climate resilience. Vizient serves over 5,000 not-for-profit health system members and their affiliates, including 1,360 acute care hospitals. They focus on improving the performance of healthcare organizations, helping them achieve better outcomes, efficiency, and cost performance.
We have twice won the Environmental Excellence Award, from reprocessing vendor Sterilmed, for purchase of recycled and reprocessed products.
Team Leaders:
Bert Sansaricq, Michael DeMasi, Steve Weisman
Policies:
EC0069 Hospital Recycling and Sustainability
EC0074 Environmental Preferable Purchasing