St Vincent’s Will Be First To Adopt ‘Greening And Cleaning’

BRIDGEPORT — St Vincent’s Medical Center will become the first hospital in the state of Connecticut to adopt the “Greening the Cleaning” initiative of the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center in order to improve indoor air quality and better safeguard the health of patients, visitors, and employees.

Deirdre Imus, founder and president of the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center, Hackensack, N.J., will formally introduce the program at a press conference on May 18 at 11 am in the hospital library on Level 3. She will later tour the hospital units and meet with board and staff.

St Vincent’s President/CEO Susan L. Davis said effective immediately the Medical Center will begin substituting “green” cleaning products for existing chemical cleaners. She said that adopting “Greening the Cleaning” is part of an overall and ongoing effort to improve patient safety and create a healthier environment for the community.

Under the agreement, the Medical Center will purchase green cleaning products and benefit from overall guidance on greening the hospital environment.

 “Deirdre Imus has earned national acclaim for her leadership in linking environmental and health issues, especially in children. She is a true expert and change agent who has not only identified a problem but also offered a solution. She has challenged institutions and government to better protect children and all lives entrusted to the hospital’s care. We’re very excited about taking this next step in conjunction with the Imus Environmental Center,” said Dr Davis.

To date, more than 60 health care facilities, businesses, and schools have implemented the “Greening the Cleaning” initiative developed by Imus in 2001. It is one of the center’s most successful education and outreach programs. In response to individual consumer inquiries, the “Greening the Cleaning” introduced a household line of cleaning products available through www.imusranchfoods.com.

 “‘Greening the cleaning’ means eliminating to the greatest extent possible all cleaning agents containing hazardous ingredients and replacing them with environmentally responsible products that use natural or naturally derived ingredients and ingredients from renewable resources whenever possible,” Ms Imus said. “St Vincent’s is demonstrating true leadership in this area, and we believe it will have a profound impact on the entire community.”

According to the Imus Center website, government figures estimate that 37 percent of the US population suffers from chemical sensitivities leading to skin rash and allergies, and more than 30 million Americans are affected by poor indoor air quality as a result of sick building syndrome (SBS). Common indoor air pollutants include formaldehyde found in wallboard, wood and volatile organic compounds commonly used in paint, solvents, upholstery, carpeting, copy machines, felt-tip markers, and cleaning products.

Many cleaning products that are commonly used in public facilities contain dangerous chemicals that may cause illness in those who are exposed to them, leading to frequent absences from school and work.

The six major goals of the Greening the Cleaning program are toxicity reduction, quantity reduction, waste minimization, cost reduction, space reduction for cleaning agents, and environmental education of personnel.

Greening the Cleaning is part of St Vincent’s overall “Go Green!” environmental health and safety program that is committed to green building and operational practices. Dr Davis said that over the past few years, St Vincent’s has implemented a number of initiatives to save energy, reduce usage of hazardous materials, and substitute “green” materials wherever possible.

The Medical Center has installed energy-efficient lighting, environmentally safe wall papers and paints, and created a “green checklist” to evaluate key environmental issues throughout the hospital. Recently, the Medical Center installed a digital radiology “Pacs” system, which will eliminate the need for x-ray film and associated chemicals.

A team from St Vincent’s is also leading a “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” campaign to continually looks for ways to introduce the “green” practice into maintenance and construction projects. St Vincent’s Medical Center is a 397-bed community teaching and referral hospital with regional centers of excellence in cardiology, surgery, cancer care, orthopedics, and diagnostics. It was recently named to the top five percent of all US hospitals for its interventional cardiology program in 2006 by Healthgrades, an independent ranking source.

St Vincent’s has set new standards in care with the recent opening of its state-of-the-art 30-bed Intensive Care and Critical Care Unit and 27,000-square-foot Operating Suite including 10 operating rooms and a 12-bed post-anesthesia unit (PACU). In addition to incorporating the latest technology and design standards, the advances in care are backed by a patient and family-centered approach to care.

The medical center is a subsidiary of St Vincent’s Health Services and member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest Catholic health care system. For more information about the St Vincent’s Greening the Cleaning initiative, call 877-255-SVHS (7847) or visit the Deidre Imus Environmental Center website at www.dienviro.com.