MUSKOKA — Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s environmental performance has earned yet another Silver recognition through the Ontario Hospital Association’s 2017 Green Hospital Scorecard.
The scorecards are based on 2016 data, assigning an overall score of 48.33 at the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital (HDMH) site and 55.68 at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) site, amounting to a silver level recognition.
“The average score for hospitals was around 40 points, which I’m proud to say puts both of our sites above average,” said Natalie Bubela, CEO at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC). “The HDMH site has seen an improvement in both water and energy use, while the SMMH site’s scorecard also shows improvement in both water and energy use, and an improvement in our score in the waste generation category.”
As well, the SMMH site won a “Waste Award” and a “Water Award,” which recognized SMMH as the top performer within its peer group of community hospitals in each category. The energy score is calculated based on energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, the presence of energy conservation policy, and other energy-saving initiatives. The waste score is a combination of the amount of waste produced, the amount of waste diverted, and the presence of waste management policies.
MAHC is also the proud recipient of Greening Healthcare awards for improved energy efficiency based on 2017 performance. The SMMH site won the 2017 “Five Per Cent Club Award” for beating the energy consumption benchmark for SMMH by five per cent. The HDMH site won the ‘Rising Star Award’ for reducing energy consumption at HDMH by more than 20 per cent over the past five years.
“Energy retrofits at each site were significant projects about four years ago and we’re pleased to see those investments are paying off through reduced energy costs,” said Bubela. “Our teams have worked hard to do their part to ‘green’ health care and it is evident that our carbon footprint is getting smaller.”
The Green Hospital Scorecard is a benchmarking and recognition program that evaluates environmental performance in five areas: Energy, waste, water, pollution prevention, and corporate leadership, planning and management. It is a tool that helps hospitals to assess their environmental performance relative to their peers and helps identify potential areas for improvements to environmental performance and operational efficiencies.
Please visit mahc.ca to learn more about energy efficiency at MAHC.
by Allyson Snelling Bracebridge Examiner