pital's choosing. The hospital collects around 5 pounds of plastic wrap
per week — "maybe a little more if we have a few consecutive busy
days," says Ms. Opalko — so it needs 100 weeks to save enough for a
bench.
• Blue-wrap blankets (with a fleece lining). Like many facilities,
Monongahela sews blue-wrap blankets and donates them to local
homeless shelters and other community organizations for use as
waterproof blankets. One problem: Blue wrap is waterproof, but it's
not warm. Using the inexpensive fleece blankets the facility has an
abundance of on-site, a team of volunteers gets together during
sewing parties and stitches liners directly into the blue wrap to pro-
vide an extra layer of warmth for the folks who'll receive the blankets.
• Expired doesn't mean retired. Monongahela Valley's approach to
sustainability not only benefits humans, it also benefits our furry, four-
legged friends. Rather than disposing of recently expired items such
as stitches that can no longer be used in the OR, the Monongahela
Valley staff will donate surgical items to local vets, animal shelters
and zoos.
• Imaginative repurposing. "Our staff is so creative that if some-
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 8 7
• WARM + WATERPROOF During sewing parties, OR staff at Monongahela
Valley (Pa.) Hospital stich a layer of fleece into the blue-wrap blankets they
donate to local homeless shelters.
Monongahela
Valley
(Pa.)
Hospital
