Several Montefiore Health System campuses received Partner Recognition Awards from Practice Greenhealth. Montefiore’s Wakefield campus, Montefiore Mount Vernon, and Montefiore New Rochelle were honored for their environmentally-responsible practices and having at least a ten percent recycling rate for their total waste stream.

“Hospitals and health care providers are among the largest energy consumers in the country,” said Jeffrey Hogan, manager, Energy and Sustainability, Montefiore. “Here at Montefiore, we are committed to protecting the environment and increasing the sustainability of our operations. Montefiore has been a leader in sustainability for nearly two decades, and we will continue to introduce energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly methods at all of our campuses.”

Recent initiatives for which Montefiore was honored include the installation of a food biodigester at Montefiore New Rochelle and the creation a medical device reprocessing program. Montefiore New Rochelle’s food biodigester prevented 40 tons of organic food waste from being landfilled in its first four months of operation. Montefiore’s medical device reprocessing program prevented eight tons of single-use medical devices from entering landfills in 2014. As these programs move forward, Montefiore intends to share information with other Practice Greenhealth members about the sustainable practices used at the health system’s locations.

The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards were presented at the CleanMed Conference & Exhibition in Portland, Oregon. Practice Greenhealth aims to help the health care community increase its environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care. The nonprofit organization is a source of environmental solutions that offers its members tools and information on best practices to create safer and greener workplaces and communities.