Outfitting for the Outpatient Ortho Boom
Between aging Baby Boomers’ growing needs and a strong same-day preference among patients and insurers, the demand for outpatient orthopedic procedures like total knees and...
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By: Jared Bilski
Published: 9/11/2019
From blue wrap to plastic film to white cardboard, ORs produce millions of mounds and millions of pounds of waste per year. Rather than cart it away to landfills, Monongahela Valley (Pa.) Hospital recycles its rubbish into park benches and blue wrap blankets. This trash-to-treasure mentality earned the community hospital in western Pennsylvania this year's OR Excellence Award for Environmental Stewardship.
"When it comes to environmentally friendly ideas, everybody is encouraged to think outside the box," says Darcie Opalko, MBA, MS, RN, CNOR, CSSM, the director of surgical services at Monongahela Valley.
With this team-based, anything-goes approach to going green, no project is too big or too small, and everybody's ideas get due consideration, says Ms. Opalko. As a result, Monongahela reduces, reuses and recycles in a number of novel ways.
"You have to make going green fun," says Ms. Opalko. "People may look at anything extra as a way to pull them away from the patient care or add to their workload, but if it's fun, it'll catch on quickly." OSM
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