8 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7
HONORABLE MENTIONS
• Play it again.
"Reduce, reuse,
recycle" is the rally-
ing cry for Saint
Luke's Cushing
Hospital in
Leavenworth, Kan.
The 3-OR communi-
ty hospital works
with a reprocessing
company for its single-use devices that get used regularly, while
single-use devices used less frequently get recycled. Blue towels
and sequential compression-device sleeves get recycled, too, and
outdated supplies are provided to physicians who volunteer for
mission trips.
• Start simply. With its "Green OR" initiative, Sanford Aberdeen
(S.D.) Medical Center has created new habits that have cut costs,
improved worker and patient safety and, of course, reduced its
environmental impact. Even simple tasks — turning off lights,
equipment and air-handling units in its ORs at day's end, limiting
the amount of nonhazardous waste that gets red-bagged, and
using forced-air patient warming devices only when necessary due
to patient need or procedure length — have reaped considerable
dividends: For one month, electricity costs dropped more than
$3,600 year over year; and red-bag waste dipped by roughly 1,000
pounds, at a cost of about 30 cents a pound.
• Blue wrap goes green. Teaneck (N.J.) Surgical Center repur-
poses its blue wrap in a number of ways. For example, it uses
How These Surgical Facilities See Green
• IMPACTFUL Recycling and
energy-conservation initiatives
have helped these facilities
trim costs and engage staff.
