by
Diana Bradley, Staff Writer | September 26, 2012
From the September 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
The root of the problem lies with the fact many hospitals are over 50-years-old. These structures were not built to be as energy efficient as more modern facilities. But this doesn’t mean they are mission impossible to update.
“Plumbing fixtures, to chillers and HVAC systems can make a massive impact on operational costs when you consider hospitals are open 24/7 and have a high demand for energy and water,” Wenger says.
Small changes, such as waste minimization, can have an enormous impact on a hospital’s environmental footprint and wallet, starting with the operating room (OR), one of the largest users of supplies within the hospital as well as one of the largest producers of waste, according to Wenger. Case studies have estimated that between 20 to 30 percent of the total waste generated by the hospital comes from the OR.
“Some hospitals would put red bag liners in their trashcans (indicating biohazard waste) in every patient room and by their nurses’ stations,” Wenger says. “These bags would get filled with paper towels, package wrappings, and numerous other things that are not biohazards. It would then cost the hospital eight to ten times more to have that removed. By properly placing and using trashcans, hospitals can save huge amounts of money on what goes out the back door.”
Refurbishing/reprocessing medical equipment
Refurbishment/reprocessing programs offer hospitals yet another cost cutting route, through long-term fiscal and environmental value, reducing supply costs and the environmental impact of providing care, according to Tamara Cutler, VP of public affairs at Stryker Sustainability Solutions.
“Reprocessed medical devices are roughly half the cost of their original counterparts,” she says. “The savings add up quickly. Some hospitals save millions of dollars each year and can redirect these cost savings to patient care quality initiatives.”
Sustainability benefits for hospitals don’t come solely from materials used to construct the devices – but also from the fact that implementing a reprocessing program diverts medical waste from landfills. Put another way: with reprocessing, single-use medical devices are treated as assets, not waste. As a result, hospitals can also save money by diverting waste away from costly disposal techniques, notes Cutler.
A Siemens Healthcare technician
prepares a refurbished C-arm
(photo courtesy of Siemens Healthcare)
Siemens Healthcare, which sells refurbished systems for all imaging modalities, carefully disposes of any remaining, unusable parts, with only 2 percent of the original equipment manufacturers’ systems actually going to waste in the end. Because of this, the company saves 20,000 tons of CO2 per year, by avoiding the production of brand new materials.
Additionally, the proceeds from Siemens’ refurbishment process benefit the Sebangau National Forest in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. In conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund, Siemens plants trees to double the amount of CO2 savings and gives customers certificate plaques telling them what amount of CO2 they are saving. The reforestation efforts are also saving Sebangau’s orangutan population.
