RESTON, VA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/18/12 -- The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) announced today that the New Hampshire Hospital Association has become a Supporting Organization of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a collaborative of leading health care institutions united to help speed the health care sector toward healthier staff, better patient recovery rates, and environmentally sustainable practices. Based on the success of the Institute for Health Improvement's 100,000 lives campaign, HHI was launched by twelve hospital systems -- Advocate Health Care, Bon Secours Health System, Catholic Health Initiatives, Dignity Health, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Inova Health System, Kaiser Permanente, MedStar Health, Partners HealthCare, Stanford University Medical Center, Tenet Health Systems and Vanguard Health Systems -- along with Practice Greenhealth, Health Care Without Harm and the Center for Health Design, in May 2010.

HHI is a coordinated sector-wide approach based on the premise that how we design, build and operate hospitals can improve patient outcomes and workplace safety, prevent illnesses, create environmental benefits, and save money.

"The dedication of the New Hampshire Hospital Association is evident in assuring that each of their patients receives the right care every time," said Gary Cohen, President of Health Care Without Harm and Founder of HHI. "Their commitment to collaborating to identify and share best practices makes them an ideal supporter of HHI, whose learning community is based on years of proven measures for improved public health and reduced environmental impact."

The leading hospital systems, Supporting Organizations and health care facilities work together to accelerate the widespread use of proven sustainability practices in six key "Challenge" areas:

• Engaged Leadership
• Healthier Food
• Leaner Energy
• Less Waste
• Safer Chemicals
• Smarter Purchasing

Success will be measured and tracked with aggregate data that can be sorted by state or hospital type -- data that will be of great use for demonstrating success. "HHI offers us an opportunity to transform the health care sector and use data to demonstrate the valuable contribution that environmental stewardship activities have on quality health care delivery and the bottom line," said NHHA President Steve Ahnen.

HHI Supporting Organizations support the goals of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative and seek opportunities to share information with organization members and associates. The green movement in health care is completely in concert with any organization's mission of improving the health and well-being of their community, and promoting effective stewardship of human and financial resources.

Learn more about the Healthier Hospitals Initiative at www.healthierhospitals.org.

About the Healthier Hospitals Initiative
The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) is a national campaign to implement a completely new approach to improving environmental health and sustainability in the health care sector. Eleven of the largest, most influential U.S. health systems, comprising over 475 hospitals with more than $20 billion in purchasing power, worked with Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the Center for Health Design and Practice Greenhealth to create HHI as a guide for hospitals to improve sustainability in six key areas: engaged leadership, healthier food, leaner energy, less waste, safer chemicals, and smarter purchasing. Sponsoring health systems include Advocate Health Care, Bon Secours Health System, Catholic Health Initiatives, Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West), Hospital Corporation of America, Inova Health System, Kaiser Permanente, MedStar Health, Partners HealthCare, Stanford University Medical Center, Tenet Health Systems and Vanguard Health Systems. More information is available at www.healthierhospitals.org.

About the NHHA
Hospitals have been collaborating through the New Hampshire Hospital Association since 1934. The association's mission is to provide leadership through advocacy, education and information in support of its member hospitals and health care delivery systems in delivering high quality health care to the patients and communities they serve.

Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine