Negligent medical waste management is a major environmental issue. Being that I want to be a surgeon, this topic really hits home. It amazed me to see the amount of damage the health care system is causing to the same people they are trying to help. The impact of medical waste is multidimensional and causes damage…
read full article (PDF)Background: Operating rooms (ORs) are estimated to generate up to one-third of hospital waste. At the London Health Sciences Centre, prosthetics and implants represent 17% of the institution’s ecological footprint. To investigate waste production associated with total knee arthroplasties (TKAs), we performed a surgical waste audit…
read full article (PDF)EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This analysis is an overview of the benefits a reusable gown and drape program provides and how it can help a healthcare facility achieve cost savings and meet environmental goals within the operating room…
read full article (PDF)Contemporary comparisons of reusable and single-use perioperative textiles (surgical gowns and drapes) reflect major changes in the technologies to produce and reuse these products. Reusable and disposable gowns and drapes meet new standards for medical workers and patient protection, use synthetic lightweight fabrics…
read full article (PDF)Revisiting Reusables: When considering how to reduce the environmental footprint of the operating room, it makes sense to first revisit the old adage of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. This common sense approach relies on the concept of avoiding use of materials or supplies that are not needed to protect or ensure patient or worker safety (reduce), using a reusable, preprocessed…
read full article (PDF)Medical waste is a necessary by-product of any hospital environment; however, the majority of regulated medical waste is produced in the OR from the use of disposable surgical supplies (eg, drapes, gowns, basins, gloves, sponges). We conducted a concept comparison project in the ORs of two large medical centers in…
read full article (PDF)The operating room is critical to a hospital’s success, and to its business model—bringing in between 40-60% of the organization’s revenue and up to 60% of its operating margin in some instances. The OR is also a significant cost center. It is the leader in medical supply usage for the entire hospital, estimated to account for approximately…
read full article (PDF)The University of Minnesota Medical Center-Fairview (UMMC) is a highly-respected educational institution located on the University’s Minneapolis campus. The hospital has nearly 2,000 beds and performs over 20,000 surgeries each year. Fairview’s mission is to improve the health of the communities it serves…
read full article (PDF)To the Editors: Having read the report entitled, “Softer, stronger fabrics enhance gowns and drapes” in your April, 2009 issue, I wish to comment on a number of points in the section of the article entitled, Reusable vs. Disposable…
read full article (PDF)Introduction, requirements, quality assurance, studies, performance and overall comparison between reusables and disposables…
read full article (PDF)Since 1920, Ontario-based Lac-Mac Limited has been a manufacturer focused on the industry of green products for the health care market. As a leader in design and dissemination of reusable surgical drapes and gowns, Lac-Mac makes evident the many advantages of using its barrier fabrics…
read full article (PDF)Three industry experts discuss OR waste, sustainable practices, and green healthcare. According to a recent study by the University of Chicago, the healthcare sector accounts for about 8 percent of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, other studies suggest operating rooms generate tremendous amount of waste: roughly 20-30 percent of a facility’s total waste…
read full article (PDF)The operating room is notorious for its large financial and environmental footprints - especially when consideringits relatively small spatial footprint within the walls of the hospital. Besides consuming vast amounts of energy and accounting for as much as 33 percent of a facility's supply budget, the OR is also responsible for as much as 33 percent of a facility's waste…
read full article (PDF)Perhaps your healthcare organization only uses disposable products. Maybe you use a mix of reusable textiles and single-use disposables. Here are the FACTS on why increasing the use of reusable textiles is the sustainable and responsible choice! The new focus on Green has every heatlhcare organization looking for ways to reduce waste and costs…
read full article (PDF)Sterile surgical gowns and patient drapes which are resistant to the penetration of germs help prevent the transfer of pathogens from medical staff to patients and vice versa. For more than two decades high-quality fabrics which can be reused several times have been available for use in operating theatres.…
read full article (PDF)Reusable surgical gowns and drapes have proven practical especially during dynamic operations where there are a lot of fluids involved. In two consensus statements and one expert opinion it was shown meticulously that reusable surgical gowns and drapes are highly functional but are also not very detrimental to the environment…
read full article (PDF)The goal of this report was to compare the potential environmental impacts of reusable laundered surgical gowns with single use, polypropylene disposable gowns using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique, as defined in ISO 14040. In accordance with ISO14044, this study has been peer reviewed to the standard…
read full article (PDF)Look for our 'Smart Start' symbol, a guide to products which are a simple transition towards Greening the Operating Room. These products can easily and effectively be converted from high-cost, waste generating single-use, to cost-effective, enviromentally preferred, REUSABLE.
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