A healthy human greatly depends on a healthy environment.
St. John’s Health is committed to protecting and preserving the environment
by promoting cost-effective business practices consistent with the following
principles:
We will meet or exceed all environmental laws and regulations
We support and encourage recycling of the materials used within the hospital
We minimize waste and ensure that contaminated waste is disposed of in
a safe and responsible manner
We encourage the use of alternate transportation through financial and
other incentives
We purchase products that contain recyclable or reusable materials whenever possible
We practice water conservation and energy efficiency
We use environmentally friendly cleaning products whenever possible
We strive to eliminate the emissions of toxins or dangerous substances
into the air, water, or earth
We participate with organizations, businesses, and the public to encourage
environmentally
responsible practices within our community and state.
Sustainability is one of St. John's core values. As a member of Practice
Green Health for the last 7 years, SJH has received 9 national environmental
excellence awards and received guidance for goals achieved across many
departments.
Practice Greenhealth is the health care sector’s go-to source for information, tools,
data, resources, and expert technical support on sustainability initiatives
that help members meet their goals. More than 1200 hospitals nationwide
are members, working to decrease healthcare’s environmental footprint.
2023 Practice Green Health Goals:
Transportation: Increase commuter bus ridership by 5% calculated by employee bus pass reimbursement
pre and post promotion of services.
Food/Less Meat: Reduce our percentage of meat purchased per food dollar spent by 3%, by
increasing offerings of plant-based foods and reducing meat content in
standardized recipes.
Waste: Complete a review of our RMW contract with a goal to reduce RMW by switching
to reusable sharps containers by the end of 2023.
Successes:
Started a food composting program in 2020 that diverts over 25 tons of
food prep waste yearly and saves money over landfilling.
Made the switch to recycled content white office paper and reduced our
paper usage by 32 % over the last 6 years.
Used a $25K grant in 2022 to accelerate our conversion to LED lighting,
now at about 75% LED’s.
Purchased two Level 2 dual port EV chargers to be installed on the new
parking area of the main campus in June 2023
Increased our recycling/diversion from 107 tons in 2016 to 180 tons in 2022.
What started as a recycling committee 30 years ago has grown to an impactful
and far-reaching program.
responsible practices within our community and state.
