Award recipients were determined by selecting the top performing facilities from the 2017 Green Hospital Scorecard (GHS). The GHS is the only comprehensive benchmarking tool designed for Canadian health care facilities that measures energy and water conservation, waste management and recycling, corporate commitment and pollution prevention. Through an online questionnaire, participating facilities report their environmental initiatives and various types of data from the previous calendar year. A scorecard is generated and sent to each facility which allows health care staff and senior leaders to analyze their site's environmental impact from year to year and relative to their particular peer group. 

 

A total of 110 hospital sites completed the 2017 GHS survey, which reports on data from the 2016 calendar year. The wide range of facility sizes and various peer groups provided the award webinar participants with insights into how health care facilities operate, and examples of how facilities have responded to the call to be more environmentally friendly by increasing their commitment to a wide variety of greening initiatives. 

 

This year, the virtual awards ceremony involved the bestowing of 16 awards to the top performing hospitals in the areas of energy, water and waste plus the Green Hospital of the Year. Peer group categories included non-acute, community, academic and small hospitals. See below for a list of the winners from each award category and their coinciding peer group.

 

The Green Hospital Scorecard program has been in operation for five consecutive years. In 2013, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) in conjunction with an advisory committee of hospital staff and leadership from the Coalition, developed the Green Hospital Scorecard through the Green Hospital Champion Fund and supportive funding from the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Government Services. In 2016 the OHA asked the Coalition to take over responsibility for administering the GHS.

 

Project Goals, Objectives, and Performance Results - The main purpose of the GHS is to provide a vehicle for standardized, sector-specific environmental benchmarking and to connect hospitals with environmental information that will assist them in making decisions to achieve environmental and economic benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved energy/water efficiency, and waste management. A key purpose of the GHS is to allow enhancement of existing benchmark data, refinement of collection methodologies, and the creation of meaningful reporting to inform the sector, hospitals’ executives and future conservation programming. Intended results of the GHS include raising the hospital organization’s awareness, motivate change, and incite improvements in the environmental sphere by recognizing each participating hospital’s achievements.

 

The Coalition is looking forward to continuing to take the GHS nationally in 2018 and is inviting input from the Canadian health services sector including possible award sponsors interested in enhancing their brand within the sector. For more information, visit http://greenhealthcare.ca/ghs

 

For nearly two decades, the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care has been helping those working in health care facilities, non-governmental and governmental organizations, individuals, students and businesses to share green health care best practices and to become better equipped to deal with the growing demands placed upon them to be environmentally responsible health service workers and individuals.