Riverview Medical Center Explores Environmental Causes

RED BANK, NJ - As research increasingly links environmental factors with chronic disease, Riverview Medical Center has enrolled in the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a national campaign that supports hospitals in accelerating the greening of health care and reducing its environmental impacts.

The initiative helps hospitals adopt sustainability efforts that will promote the health and well-being of patients, team members, and members of the community, according to a release from the facility.

“By creating healthier environments for patients, team members and visitors, we are taking an important step in achieving the best outcomes for our patients and supporting community health,” said Kelli O’Brien, chief operating officer at Riverview Medical Center. “Specific changes in the ways we operate will lay the groundwork for better health – inside and outside our hospital walls. With the support we’ve received from HHI, we can quickly adopt proven practices and generate cost savings that allow us to devote more resources to do what we do best: provide top-notch medical care.”

HHI provides the nation’s hospitals with free, step-by-step implementation guides that help hospitals such as Riverview Medical Center choose from six key challenges: engaged leadership, healthier food, leaner energy, less waste, safe chemicals and smarter purchasing.

To date, Riverview Medical Center has committed to the following challenges: creating engaged leadership, providing healthier food options, reducing waste and using safer chemicals within the hospital. The facility is also in the final stages of completing a 20-percent reduction in energy consumption through conservation measures that were implemented in partnership with the state's Clean Energy Program.

“Riverview Medical Center is showing visionary leadership,” says John Messervy, chairman of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative. As “we have seen with other hospitals that have implemented these programs, we expect Riverview Medical Center will see ongoing cost savings and achieve a healing environment that is more conducive to public health.”

In addition to the practices adopted through its enrollment with HHI, Riverview Medical Center previously incorporated other sustainability initiatives such as promoting recycling and developing a targeted approach to hospital structure and the impact on the environment.

Riverview Medical Center recently completed a flood mitigation project, relocated oxygen tanks and incorporated a bulkhead in order to safeguard its ability to care for the public in times of need.

The medical center also has partnered with Clean Ocean Action, a not-for-profit with the goal of improving the degraded quality of the marine waters off the New Jersey and New York coasts. Riverview Medical Center recently joined NJ Frames Advisory group, a regional and collaborative effort in coastal Monmouth County that seeks to understand and address flood vulnerability in the region.

Like other hospitals enrolled with HHI, Riverview Medical Center will track progress and share data to measure the impact of the project. A current list of health systems participating in the initiative can be found on HHI’s website at www.healthierhospitals.org.

Riverview Medical Center is engaged in new environmentally conscious measures to improve care, sustainability and costs. Image via Shutterstock.