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Hospitals' Eco-Efforts Are Quest For Health
Green ideas can benefit profit, patients
San Francisco Business Times
by Michele Chandler San Francisco Business Times Contributor
Friday, October 19, 2007
It's not easy being green -- especially for hospitals.
But more Bay Area medical centers are making changes designed to save energy, cut waste and reduce pollution. The efforts range from replacing water-guzzling plants with moisture-sipping varieties to buying only plastic intravenous fluid bags that aren't produced from potentially harmful chemicals.
The changes are credited with lowering energy costs and creating environments less prone to spreading infection, according to a recent study by the San Francisco-based Health Technology Center, a nonprofit research and education organization.
HealthTech found that adding features such as motion-activated lights and faucets help cut new infections and lower the $5.3 billion a year medical facilities spend on energy.
The hospitals are becoming more environmentally conscious out of concern that regulation will soon mandate energy efficiency, said Barbara Harvath, senior adviser with HealthTech. State mandates to make hospital structures earthquake-resistant within the next six years have led to new construction -- and opportunities to add environment-friendly features.
Fast food beats hospitals
The hospitals use a huge amount of energy. Because they're always open and rely on electricty-guzzling high-tech equipment, hospitals as an industry group are the nation's second-biggest energy user, behind only fast-food, according to HealthTech.
Processes ranging from developing X-ray film to sterilizing surgical instruments make hospitals among the top water users also.
But changes are under way.
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center's campuses in Oakland and Berkeley have switched to flexible intravenous bags that don't contain polyvinyl chloride. PVC makes plastic soft and pliable but also carries health risks. It has been widely used in the production of IV bags, plastic tubing and other hospital products, as well as carpet backing.
But starting in May, Alta Bates switched to intravenous bags that don't contain PVC and also don't require an outer plastic wrap. The change means the hospital pays $1.10 per bag rather than 78 cents.
But the hospital's total IV bag-related expense is staying about the same because it no longer has to pay to have tens of thousands of bag wrappers hauled to a landfill each month, said Jim Eaton, assistant director of purchasing for Alta Bates. "We think of it as break-even, or even potentially coming out ahead."
Under the rug
Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente is also working to make its building operations more environment-friendly, and in the process has sparked the development of new, less toxic products that others in the industry are buying as well.
In 2002, Kaiser asked carpet makers to develop an alternative product backing that didn't permit liquids to soak through to the floor underneath but also didn't contain PVC, then the most common backing. "Vapors from PVC can trigger asthma and other respiratory problems," said Tom Cooper, chairman of Kaiser's high-performance buildings committee.
Manufacturer Collins & Aikman Corp. of Michigan used the film that prevents automobile windshields from shattering to produce a flexible, non-toxic carpet backing. The product has been sold since 2004 and now is "ubiquitous in the marketplace," Cooper said. Kaiser now installs carpet with that backing in all its new facilities and uses it when older structures are remodeled. Oakland-based Kaiser plans to build or replace more than 20 medical centers during the next eight years.
"Because of our size and our consciousness around these types of issues, we have been able to bring safer products to market that didn't exist before, because we are going to buy those safer products," Cooper said.
Healthy changes
The University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center is using non-toxic cleaning chemicals and energy-efficient fluorescent lighting. Like many other hospitals, the medical center has begun using thermometers and blood-pressure measurement devices that do not contain mercury, which can affect the human nervous system.
UCSF also buys toilet paper and paper towels containing recycled paper. For the past two years, UCSF has required companies completing remodeling projects to recycle all metal and wood construction waste.
And, to abide by a new San Francisco law, UCSF has stopped using Styrofoam plates and cups in its cafeteria, substituting more expensive but recyclable cardboard products. Making the switch will cost an additional $180,000 a year, said safety officer Robert Hunn.
The hospital has also switched to degradable corn starch-based packing pellets in boxes containing fragile items, rather than Styrofoam, which will "be around for hundreds of years," said Hunn.
John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek puts surgical instruments in reusable aluminum containers rather than plastic packaging to cut down on landfill waste, said spokeswoman Deniene Erickson. The center also uses surgical drapes and gowns worn by patients during exams that are made of washable linen, rather than disposable materials.
"We want to be as green as possible," Erickson said.
Change in the menu
Hospital cafeterias are also changing. California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has begun a recycling and composting program. Kitchen waste that can be made into compost -- such as eggshells and coffee grinds -- are sent to a city-run composting program that began in May. "Before, we would just throw everything in the garbage," said Sandy Jones, manager of food and nutrition services.
(Posted November 21, 2007)