Environmentally Safe Hospital Practices

OAHHS is proud to be a H2e Champion for Change (see list), a voluntary partnership with the American Hospital Association to reduce Hospital Waste. Acting as an H2e Champion means we encourage and aid Oregon hospitals to develop safe environmental practices. To help you in these efforts, we offer the following links to websites that offer useful assistance in managing waste, reducing mercury emissions and managing other environmental issues:

Advisory Report

FDA Public Health Notification: PVC Devices Containing the Plasticizer DEHP: www.fda.gov/cdrh/safety/dehp.html

Pollution Prevention in Health Care

Oregon Resources: www.oregon-health.org/HCWH.html

Health Care Without Harm: www.noharm.org

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment: www.h2e-online.org

EPA Medical Waste: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/other/medical/index.htm

Sustainable Hospitals Project: www.sustainablehospitals.org

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Oregon Health Care Without Harm Roundtable

Participants from all major hospitals in Portland and surrounding areas have formed working groups to address issues such as, PVC plastic use, mercury reduction, and red bag waste reduction. These workgroups have been meeting quarterly to prioritize a statewide action plan for minimizing pollution and preventing environmental health risks in hospitals. Members report back to the group on successes and barriers to overcome, and to share the "how to's" of those successes so they can be implemented at other healthcare facilities. For more information on the roundtables, contact info@oregon-health.org

OAHHS also sponsored distribution of the publication "Going Green: A Resource Kit for Pollution Prevention in Health Care". To obtain a copy of this publication, you may contact the Oregon Center for Environmental Health at info@oregon-health.org or Health Care Without Harm at www.noharm.org.

Email List-Serve The Oregon Center for Environmental Health is managing the Oregon Health Care Without Harm email list-serve. Currently, there are over 100 professionals representing healthcare, government and public-interest groups. The email list is used to post the latest information on pollution prevention, and is also used by the members to post questions on hospital waste minimization. To join the list serve send an email to list@oregon-health.org

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