mercy health

PADUCAH — A release explained today that Bon Secours Mercy Health and Mercy Health Lourdes Hospital have enacted several system-wide sustainability initiatives, earning them awards from Practice Greenhealth. 

Practice Greenhealth is a leading United States nonprofit devoted to helping hospitals implement environmental and sustainability practices. In a quote from the release, Practice Greenhealth founder Gary Cohen explained, 

BSMH won the System for Change Award which "recognizes health systems that are working cohesively to set system-wide sustainability goals, track performance data, benchmark and support intra-organizational learning and implementation within their institutions."

They say some of their environmental successes leading to the award are:

  • System-level recycling above Practice Greenhealth's median percentage-they report 5 BSMH hospitals are performing in the 90th percentile.
  • Eliminating the usage of desflurane anesthetic gas, therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving an estimated 1,671 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released. 

31 BSMH hospitals received Partner for Change or Partner Recognition Awards from Practice Greenhealth, the release says. 

Lourdes Hospital reports they won the Partner Recognition Award in recognition of their progress and commitment to environmental improvements, including:

  • Collecting hundreds of pounds of drugs in drug-takeback days 
  • Eliminating desflurane gas, causing them to avoid releasing 139.32 metric tons of  CO2, or, according to them, the equivalent of about 20 cars driving 345,707 miles using 15,677 gallons of gasoline.
Noah Dunlap.jpg

Photo Courtesy of Mercy Health 

Vice President of Insights and Innovation for Bon Secours Mercy Health, Noah Dunlap, expressed gratitude in a quote from the release, stating: