Practice Greenhealth Honors Access Community Health Network with Partner Recognition Award
June 3, 2016
Access Community Health Network has again been awarded the "Partner Recognition" Award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation's leading health care community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship, while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge.
The award is one of the Environmental Excellence Awards given each year to honor environmental achievements in the health care sector, and ACCESS has earned it for two consecutive years.
The Partner Recognition Award is given to health care facilities that have begun to work on environmental improvements, have achieved some progress, and have at least a 10 percent recycling rate for their total waste stream.
Since its first time earning the award—which covered initiatives in 2014—for the year 2015, ACCESS has recycled more than 128 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic, bulbs, and electronics. The organization has also instituted a reusable Sharps program to reduce medical waste poundage; as well as a pharmacy waste program to prevent the improper disposal of waste medications.
ACCESS' green measures have also contributed to the national landscape. "We have compiled our energy usage for 2015 and will submit this information to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for benchmarking purposes to help build their database for energy usage for medical office buildings," said LaMar Davis, ACCESS Deputy Administrator, Facilities Planning Design and Construction.
Other environmental initiatives are measurable, as well. "As mentioned last year, ACCESS has conducted HVAC retro-commissioning for three of our health centers, a measure that is expected to yield immediate energy savings," Davis said.
These are just some of the ways in which ACCESS is proactively protecting its patients by implementing clean, efficient solutions at its health centers.
"We are excited about staying on course with our green initiatives and earning this award for the second consecutive year," said ACCESS CEO Donna Thompson. "We look forward to continued work with Practice Greenhealth to further explore sustainable ways that we can protect the health of our patients, staff and communities."
The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards were recently presented in Dallas, Texas, at the CleanMed Conference and Exhibition, the premier national environmental conference for leaders in health care sustainability.
About Access Community Health Network:
Designated as a Level 3 patient-centered medical home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), ACCESS offers patient-centered, preventive and primary care services to more than 180,000 patients annually. Through its investment in technology to further improve patient care and engagement, ACCESS has also been recognized by HIMMS at Stage 6 for its adoption of its electronic health record. With 36 Joint Commission-accredited community health centers located throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, ACCESS is also one of the largest networks of community health centers in the nation. For more information, visit: www.achn.net.
About Practice Greenhealth:
Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading health care community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship, while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge. To learn more about Practice Greenhealth visitwww.practicegreenhealth.org.