29 Providence hospitals earn Greenhealth recognition

[4 MIN READ] 

In this article: 

• The Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards recognize health care systems nationwide for environmental excellence throughout their operations, including in reducing water, waste, mercury and more.   

• A record 29 Providence hospitals applied for the Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards, with all applying hospitals receiving awards in 2023. In total, 29 hospitals and the Providence system earned 53 awards.  

• For the third year in a row, Providence also received the System for Change award, which recognizes health care systems that work cohesively on their environmental programs, including goal setting, performance tracking and organizational learning.  

When health care can work for the health of the planet, everyone wins. That’s why Providence, including 29 of our hospitals, is proud to be recognized by Practice Greenhealth for our work in environmental excellence, bringing home 53 awards through the Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Awards program.  

Practice Greenhealth is a leading organization for sustainable health care and its awards program recognizes hospitals and health systems that have gone above and beyond in areas of sustainability and energy reduction. According to Practice Greenhealth, the awards “are a powerful tool to promote the mantra of ‘manage what you measure,’ celebrate successes, and reward cross-functional teamwork and project execution.” 

Recognizing top-performers 

Among the 29 Providence hospitals recognized for their work were several newcomers and top performers from Practice Greenhealth’s award categories. 

Two hospitals, Providence St. Patrick Hospital and Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, earned the Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award in 2023. This award is Practice Greenhealth’s highest honor for hospitals and recognizes hospitals that are leading health care in their sustainability performance and that demonstrate comprehensive sustainability programs that are inherent to the organizational culture. This year was the second straight that Providence St. Patrick Hospital earned this competitive honor.  

In addition to the Top 25 recognition, other hospitals earned special recognition: 

• Two new sites, Providence St. Joseph Hospital Orange and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Burbank, received awards in their first year applying. 
• Eight ministries earned the Greenhealth Emerald Award, which recognizes the top 20% of performers from Partner for Change Award applications. The Partner for Change Award recognizes superior environmental performance in a range of activities. 
• Six hospitals received nine Circle of Excellence awards, which recognizes the top-10 performing hospitals in particular sustainability categories.  
• Nine sites earned Greening the OR recognition for their work in reducing the environmental impact of surgical operations. 
• Providence St. Vincent Medical Center also earned the Greening the OR Leadership Award, which is given to one site across the nation for its efforts in reducing the impact of the surgical environment. 2023 is the second-straight year a Providence ministry received this award after Providence Portland Medical Center took home the honor last year. 

Excellence as a system 

With so many Providence ministries being recognized for their individual environmental programs and their work toward sustainable operations, we are also honored that Providence was recognized as a system with the System for Change award. This is the third year in a row that Providence has been recognized with this distinction, which, according to Practice Greenhealth awards “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.” 

Providence also earned prestigious Climate Circle recognition, granted to hospitals and systems that, in addition to all-around achievement in sustainability, also were at the top of each sustainability category.  

"At Providence, we all work together to improve our environmental practices,” says Oriana Turley, a registered nurse and current analyst and program coordinator for environmental stewardship. “As a system, we help provide data, coordination, planning and communication. The hospitals participating in the Practice Greenhealth Awards work hard to gather information and strengthen their programs. They share their successes and challenges as we all continue to learn and improve together." 

Awards list 

See below for the full list of award winners from across Providence: 

• Covenant Children’s: Partner for Change 
• Covenant Medical Center: Partner for Change 
• Kadlec Regional Medical Center: Partner Recognition, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Providence Alaska Medical Center: Partner Recognition 
• Providence Centralia Hospital: Partner for Change 
• Providence Holy Family Hospital: Partner for Change 
• Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital: Emerald Award, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Providence Kodiak: Partner Recognition 
• Providence Medford Medical Center: Partner for Change 
• Providence Milwaukie Hospital: Emerald Award, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Providence Mount Carmel: Partner for Change 
• Providence Newberg Medical Center: Emerald Award, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Providence Portland Medical Center: Emerald Award, Circle - Greening the OR, Circle - Waste 
• Providence Regional Medical Center Everett: Emerald Award, Circle - Transportation, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center: Partner for Change  
• Providence Seaside Hospital: Emerald Award, Circle - Greening the OR 
• Providence St Joseph Hospital Orange: Partner for Change 
• Providence St. Joseph Medical Center (Polson, MT): Partner for Change 
• Providence St. Joseph Medical Center Burbank: Partner Recognition 
• Providence St. Mary Medical Center (Walla Walla, WA): Partner for Change 
• Providence St. Patrick Hospital: Top 25, Circle - Waste, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Providence St. Peter Hospital: Partner for Change 
• Providence St. Vincent Medical Center: Top 25, Greening the OR Leadership, Circle - Greening the OR, Circle - Waste, Circle - Water 
• Providence System: System for Change Award, Circle - Climate 
• Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center: Emerald Award, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Swedish Ballard: Partner for Change, Making Medicine Mercury Free 
• Swedish Cherry Hill: Partner for Change, Making Medicine Mercury Free 
• Swedish Edmonds: Partner Recognition, Making Medicine Mercury Free 
• Swedish First Hill, Partner for Change, Making Medicine Mercury Free, Greening the OR Recognition 
• Swedish Issaquah, Emerald Award, Greening the OR Recognition 

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Contributing Caregiver 

Oriana Turley is a registered nurse and current analyst and program coordinator for environmental stewardship at Providence. 

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Related resources 

Supporting our planet with clinical environmental stewardship 

Providence names first medical director for environmental stewardship 

How we’re improving our environmental resiliency at Providence 

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