Green

2011 HAP Innovation Award and Achievement Award for Operational Excellence

Pennsylvania’s hospitals and health systems are among the most innovative and creative in their delivery of patient care services. Each year, the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) honors this innovation, creativity, and commitment to patient care through an annual Achievement Awards program, which showcases hospital and health system best practices in a variety of areas.

Seventeen winners were selected from 168 entries this year, with all submissions considered for the top prize, the “Innovation Award.” Abington Memorial Hospital’s Green Team  was honored for its work with an award for “Operational Excellence,” and of the 168 entries, received the prestigious “Innovation Award.”

“This is truly gratifying,” said Judith Kratka, corporate director, Facilities and Sustainability, and chair of the Green Team. “I am really proud of the work we’ve accomplished, but there’s always room for improvement. “It’s a great honor to be recognized, not just for our outcomes – which are tremendous – but for the innovative ways we’ve accomplished those goals.”

2011 Robert W. Montgomery Award

AMH was honored with the Robert W. Montgomery Award, presented by Abington Township. The award recognizes outstanding leadership and/or action that has improved or protected the environment through conservation, recycling, alternative energy usage, green building technology or other initiatives that benefit the environment. 

2010 Waste Watchers Award

AMH was recognized by The Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP) as one of the winners of the 2010 Waste Watchers Award. The Waste Watchers Award honors outstanding recycling, waste reduction, reuse and composting programs in Pennsylvania.

Nominated by Abington Township, AMH received the award for its multitude of efforts and programs dedicated to the environment, as well as reaching national best practices for its three main waste streams: recycling, municipal waste and red bag waste – a major benchmark for any healthcare facility.

2010 PA Department of Environmental Protection Grant Awards

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection – Office of Energy and Technology Development has awarded two grants to AMH in support of its efforts to "go green."

Three million dollars was awarded to AMH for a new cogeneration system to replace the hospital's 45-year-old heating system. This new system will save over $2 million a year in energy costs, and significantly reduce air contaminants and water usage. It will generate 38 million kilowatt hours on-site, roughly 64 percent of the hospital's electricity needs, while producing steam as a byproduct.

A $250,000 grant was awarded for the replacement of inefficient lighting technology with proven efficient long-lasting fluorescent tube technology in four parking garages at the hospital's main campus. Calculated savings include a reduction in electricity usage of 53 percent with accompanying emissions at the same rate.

2006 EPA Trailblazer Award

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded AMH with the Trailblazer Award for its environmental leadership, in 2006. As its name implies, the award recognizes hospitals that are truly blazing the trail so that other hospitals may build on their successes and implement similar programs a bit more easily. AMH was one of four hospitals in the Delaware Valley to earn the award.

According to the EPA, AMH deserves credit for taking positive steps to reduce waste, improve indoor air quality, and invest in reusable rather than disposable products  . AMH has brought together manufacturers, suppliers, group purchasing organizations and hospital executives to take advantage of their combined buying power in developing environmentally preferable purchasing.

EPA has been working with the healthcare sector to reduce its environmental impact since 1998. As part of this work, EPA's mid-Atlantic region provided a $78,000 grant in 2006 to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a Green Hospitals Initiative. Other partners in the Green Hospitals Initiative include the Health Care Improvement Foundation and the Women's Health & Environmental Network (WHEN).

The winners of the Trailblazer Awards are all participants in the Green Hospitals Initiative and are being honored for their leadership in the Philadelphia area in reducing their environmental impact on patients, workers and the surrounding community.