On This Page: | Mission Statement | Our Vision | Accomplishments | Awards

Mission Statement

The General Services Office of Sustainability, its Green Team members and executive champions are committed to embracing and practicing sustainable health care practices and environmental stewardship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH). We will collaborate to create a sustainability agenda for the hospital, communicate the agenda and goals to staff members, and increase employee and community awareness of our initiatives and strategies by consistently reviewing our program’s metrics and making the necessary adjustments for improvement.

Our Vision

• Ensure natural resources are used responsibly.
• Increase the amount of waste that is reused, recycled, repurposed or composted.
• Embed sustainability in decision-making, planning, and actions of individuals within the institution.
• Reduce costs to enable our green initiatives to be fiscally sustainable with little financial investment.
• Promote The Johns Hopkins Hospital as a health care leader in sustainability.

Accomplishments

Our most recent successes, as a collaboration of hospital departments (Facilities, operating rooms, Nutrition, Environmental Care, Supply Chain, Materials Management, Green Team):

• Removed Styrofoam cups, plates and bowls to support Baltimore City’s efforts to reduce foam waste entering environment, landfills and waterways.
• Equipped 100% of our operating rooms with energy-efficient LED lighting.
• Removed all plastic straws from the hospital cafeterias.
• Using green certified cleaners and special technology to reduce unnecessary use of harmful chemicals.
• Coordinated a community clean up and storm drain stenciling event, engaging local community members on the importance of litter prevention throughout the city and its impact on the harbor and greater Chesapeake Bay.
• Expanded collection and bio-decontamination of unused clinical supplies throughout 31 units for an estimated annual saving of $200,000-plus of supplies.
• Collected and recycled more than 118,600 pounds of electronics from everyday collection on-site and at six electronics community drop-off events at the farmers market.
• Certified over 80 departments with Green Office Certification.
• Developed a Green Office re-certification program and have re-certified four offices in 2021.

Awards

Practice Greenhealth is a health care membership organization that provides sustainability solutions that benefit patients and employees, communities, financial security, and the environment. It is a go-to source for information, tools, data, resources, and expert technical support on sustainability initiatives that help members, like The Johns Hopkins Hospital, meet their goals.

Visit the Practice Greenhealth website