This report, broken into the nine categories of environmental stewardship work, illustrates Ascension's aim to create healthcare without waste through sustainable practices with environmental, financial and social benefit. Doing the ‘right thing’ for our community’s environmental health aligns closely with doing the ‘safe thing’ for patients, staff and visitors.
Ascension sponsors the Environmental Stewardship Program in partnership with Medxcel. Multi-disciplinary Green Teams integrated into Environment of Care committees within our health ministries, extending the initiative’s reach in order to optimize efficiency and sustainability.
Healthcare waste occurs when we have too much of a particular item entering a facility, requiring that item to be safely disposed of at the end of its useful life. This can be energy, water, food or supplies. The logical first step, then, is source reduction. We should aim to move away from the “Take, Use, Dispose” mentality and move to a new mantra of “Reduce, Reduce, Reduce.” Moving forward, we can aspire to the values of the circular economy – Reuse, Recycle, Repair, Restore, Regenerate.