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HomeNewsFort Campbell's Blanchfield Army Community Hospital recognized for environmental performance two years...

Fort Campbell’s Blanchfield Army Community Hospital recognized for environmental performance two years in a row

Written by Kerensa Crum
BACH Public Affairs volunteer

Blanchfield Army Hospital - BACH - Fort Campbell KYFort Campbell, KY – For the second consecutive year, Blanchfield Army Community Hospital has been named as a Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change.

BACH officials were notified last month that the hospital was selected in recognition of its “ongoing commitment to improving its environmental performance and (its) pride in realizing a top standard of excellence in sustainability,” according to the congratulatory letter.

Blanchfield Army Community Hospital
Blanchfield Army Community Hospital

“We’re honored,” said Lt. Col. Robert A. Geddie, BACH deputy commander for administration. “Our constant focus, and the message we continue to spread within the organization and throughout the community, is that we’re absolutely dedicated to supporting the Fort Campbell community of beneficiaries.”

Practice Greenhealth’s stated mission is to transform healthcare to reduce the environmental footprint, as well as become a leader for environmental health and justice.

“(It) is an organization that provides guidance and recognition for healthcare facilities to reduce their environmental impact,” said Maj. Susan Stankorb, chief of BACH’s Nutrition Care Division and chair of the Sustainability Working Group.

The U.S. Army Medical Command and Department of Defense are working to reduce environmental impact which will result in improving community partnerships, Stankorb explained. While it is a regulatory requirement, it is fiscally and environmentally responsible and also a part of the DoD Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan. “It is important that the DoD is a good neighbor to its communities who do so much to support us,” she added.

“What we don’t often verbalize is how we strive to practice responsible stewardship of our resources and to operate in a sustainable manner,” Geddie said, adding that BACH’s staff comprises team members who take care of their resources at home and at work. “This award shows that our leaders at every level have managed to mobilize that concern and that, as an organization, we consider sustainability in our daily operations and in our plans for the future.”

BACH takes its responsibilities seriously and Stankorb explained that making smarter choices has a significant environmental impact because health care facilities have a large footprint in the world, operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are a large consumer of natural resources: fossil fuels for heating and cooling, lighting, and water.

“Sustainability looks at recycling healthcare associated wastes and materials, examining which chemicals are used in sterilization of equipment and whether there are effective chemicals that provide for that needed sterilization but lessen environmental pollution, reducing the use of polystyrene in the dining facility, to how we build new additions to the facility and update our systems to provide for lesser environmental impacts,” Stankorb said.

“This is the second year in a row that BACH has received this honor and I think it is a good demonstration that BACH cares not only for the patients treated but the community as a whole,” she said. “It is taking healthcare a step further to ensure that our community lives in a healthy environment.”

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