SVH Receives National Recognition For Environmental Practices

June 23, 2016

Sonoma Valley Hospital has been recognized for its environmentally-friendly practices by Practice Greenhealth, a national organization promoting environmental stewardship and best practices in the health care industry.

For the third consecutive year, SVH has received a “Greenhealth Partner for Change” award for its efforts to improve sustainable environmental practices in a number of areas including waste reduction, recycling, conservation and source reduction programs. Additionally, the Hospital was given a special award “for making substantial progress in reducing the environmental impact of the surgical environment.”

Programs and practices implemented in the last year have resulted in improved waste reduction and cost savings. For example, SVH replaced 103 toilets with low-flow models, which were donated, each of which reduced its water use by more than half. Ongoing efforts continue to show improvements such as overall recycling efforts which have further increased recycled content by five percent in the past year. Also, the Hospital has switched to 100 percent green cleaners for floors and windows.

“We believe that implementing sound and sustainable environmental practices is an important part of our mission to improve the health of our patients, staff and community,” said Kelly Mather, CEO. “It’s something we take very seriously and we look for new ways to improve our efforts each year.”

Mather acknowledged the contributions of the Hospital’s Green Team for leading staff conservation efforts and education awareness, including Kimberly Drummond, Sarah Dungan, Laura Gallmeyer, Nancy Large, Kathy Mathews, Rosemary Pryszmant, Karen Clark, Lucia Padilla, Bob Harrison, Allan Sendaydiego, and Ken Jensen.