All 10 MedStar Health Hospitals Receive National Recognition for Environmental Stewardship

Columbia, Md - We are proud to share that each of MedStar Health’s ten hospitals is a 2021 recipient of the Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence award, which recognizes health care facilities across the nation that continuously work to improve and expand upon their environmental sustainability programs.  The award distinguishes our facilities for efforts to reduce their impact on the environment, such as waste reduction, energy conservation, mercury elimination, sustainable product sourcing, healthy food initiatives, and more.

“We are committed to environmental responsibility and stewardship as part of our mission to build healthier communities,” said Rachel DeMunda, corporate director of Joint Commission and Environmental Readiness and leader for sustainability for MedStar Health. “Human health is linked inextricably to environmental health, and Medstar Health continually strives for sustainable practices that preserve the earth and all its resources.”

Highlights of MedStar Health’s sustainability accomplishments include:

• Diverted more than 8 million pounds of waste from landfill or incineration through recycling, food composting, single-use device reprocessing, and donations.
• Partnered with our contracted food service provider to institute a food waste reduction program and a variety of healthier food initiatives. 
• Partnered with our contracted environmental services provider to use safer, green-certified cleaning chemicals and UV surface disinfection technologies during pandemic conditions that called for increased cleaning and disinfection.
• Partnered with numerous non-profit and community organizations to improve social and environmental determinants of health ranging from food access, health and wellness support, homeless prevention, violence prevention, and transportation to medical appointments.
• Significantly increased telehealth services, allowing for safe and increased access to many health services.
• Promoted alternative transportation methods through EV charging stations, bike and/or walking paths, and collaborating with local city planning teams.

“We are grateful to the many caregivers, frontline workers, administrators, and contractors who have faithfully committed themselves to this work and persisted through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said DeMunda.  “We look forward to continuing our sustainability journey by taking the successes we’ve had with the building blocks of our initiatives and expanding upon them into the future.”

MedStar Health has received close to one hundred environmental sustainability awards through various national, state, and local award programs.