FY17 Environmental Stewardship Program Report

Healthcare Without Waste

  • Leadership
  • Education & Communication
  • Energy
  • Water
  • Green Buildings / Operations & Maintenance / Transportation
  • Safer Chemicals
  • Food Systems
  • Environmentally Preferred Purchasing
  • Waste Management & Reduction

Water

Decreasing the strain on municipal water supplies and reducing energy needed to treat and deliver water

Microfiber Cleans More Efficiently

68 percent of Ascension hospitals report using microfiber mops and cleaning towels, which reduce water use by 95 percent and reduce the volume of cleaning chemicals required.

Water Savings Through Landscaping Best Practices

31 percent of Ascension hospitals reported using irrigation and landscape methods to minimize water use. Eight hospitals use no irrigation at all:

  • St Vincent Kokomo Hospital, Kokomo, Indiana
  • St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Bridgeport, Connecticut
  • Ascension Calumet Hospital, Chilton, Wisconsin
  • Via Christi Hospital, Manhattan, Kansas
  • St. Vincent Jennings Hospital, North Vernon, Indiana
  • Ascension Eagle River Hospital, Eagle River, Wisconsin
  • Ascension Good Samaritan Hospital, Merrill Wisconsin
  • Providence Hospital, Washington, DC

St. Vincent’s Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, has replaced flower gardens with rock gardens in order to minimize water use and maintenance.

Energy and Water Savings – Win, Win

Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) retrofits can reduce both energy and water use. Ascension Ministry Service Center, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, employed chemical treatment dispensing for cooling towers. This system uses less water and saves $14,000 per year. The project received reimbursement from the Indianapolis water utility company due to reduced evaporation from the cooling tower.

Less Laundry Creates Water Savings

Alexian Brothers Medical Center, St. Alexius Medical Center and Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, part of Ascension Chicago, deployed a linen conversion project that involved eliminating a thermal bedspread after analysis achieved consensus from several departments. This significantly reduced both linen costs and water consumption for laundering.