toh

August 11, 2010 – The Ottawa Hospital’s Green Team was awarded the ‘Partner for Change’ award by Practice Greenhealth, an organization that assists in the development of sustainable operations and construction practices by connecting health-care facilities across North America.

The ‘Partner for Change’ award recognizes facilities that achieve continuous improvement in environmental performance. The award examined all aspects of the hospital’s operations, including:

• Continued energy and water conservation projects.
• Reduction of waste by composting and recycling.
• Development of sustainable construction standards to ensure the use of durable, low-emitting materials and finishes, maximum waste diversion, and preference for materials with recycled content, end-of-life recycling programs and local manufacturing.
• Initiation of purchasing policies that exclude substances with potential health risks like PVC, DEHP and mercury
• Use of green cleaning products to reduce staff and patient exposure to harmful vapours and prevent damaging chemicals from entering the sewer system.
• Promotion of alternative transportation for staff through the use of an inter-campus shuttle bus service, discounted public transit passes (Ecopass), and access to secure bicycle storage and shower facilities.

With the support of The Ottawa Hospital staff, the Green Team will continue to implement successful environmental initiatives to provide a healthy environment for patients, visitors, staff and the neighbouring community. Moving towards more sustainable operations will conserve natural resources, generate long-term savings, and improve health and safety in the hospital environment.