Creating a Sustainable Healthcare Facility through Integrated Operations and Maintenance

Fundamental to a high performance and sustainable healthcare facility's success is an integrated operations and maintenance process. This teleconference will give a general overview of the role Integrated O and M plays in the Green Guide for Health Care, the premier best practices guide to greening healthcare facilities, and real world examples of how to establish and implement an Integrated O and M process on the ground.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand how the Green Guide for Health Care uses Integrated O and M as a framework for the GGHC Operations section.
• Identify real-life solutions to blocks in communication across departments.
• Learn how to create an Environmental Health Goals Statement that encourages continuous improvement.
• Identify the low hanging fruit in the Green Guide for Health Care Operations section.
• Streamline coordination between departments.
• Discuss the importance of staff training and regular inspections to successfully implementing new O and M procedures.
• Recognize how Integrated Operations can help streamline compliance with regulations and save money along the way.

Presenters and Panelists:

Adele Houghton
The Green Guide for Healthcare

Adele Houghton, Associate AIA, LEED® AP, serves as Pilot Project Coordinator for the Green Guide for Health Care. Trained as an architect, Adele's background includes acting as an in-house green building consultant at Kirksey, a large architecture firm in Houston, Texas; policy and graphic design work at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin, Texas; and an internship in Accessibility concerns for sustainable development initiatives at the United Nations in New York. Adele manages the day to day business of the Green Guide for Health Care. She is the main point of contact for Green Guide Pilot projects and leads the research initiative to evaluate and refine the Green Guide for Health Care version 2.0 Pilot content in preparation for the release of version 2.1.

Janet Brown
Partner Coordinator
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment

Janet Brown is the Partner Coordinator for Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, (H2E) a program sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association and Health Care Without Harm www.noharm.org. H2E works with health care facilities to assist them in the shared goal of improving environmental, safety and health performance. www.h2e-online.org. Janet coordinates and moderates a monthly teleconference covering issues ranging from recycling to mercury elimination to green cleaning and more. Janet is on the Steering Committee of the H2E-sponsored Green Guideline for Health Care, a self-certifying tool to improve healthcare's design, construction, and daily operations. Janet writes a column "Greening Your Practice" for Holistic Primary Care, a magazine for primary care physicians.

Janet coordinated health care environmental management programs for Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City from 1991 - 2004. Beth Israel received numerous awards including the EPA's Environmental Quality Award in 2001.

John Ebers
Sustainable Practices Coordinator
Metropolitan Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI

Mr. Ebers is a graduate of Aquinas College, where his studies focused on Sustainable Business Management, Political Science, and Environmental Studies. He has over five years experience in research and development of sustainable business practices. Since the spring of 2003, he has worked to develop Metro's approach to incorporate sustainability into its corporate philosophy. As a LEED Accredited Professional of the U.S. Green Building Council, Mr. Ebers assists with project goals for the Metro Health Village as they pertain to LEED certification.

Continuing Education:

This program is approved for CHFM & CHSP.