New green health care facility opens in North America
October 8, 2008 by Jennifer
Kaiser Permanente’s new Modesto Medical Center opened last week, as one of the greenest facilities in America. This is an interesting development, and hopefully, more medical and other public-minded facilities will follow suit. Since opening, the hospital has received national recognition from environmental advocates as one of the “greenest” health care facilities in North America. This is Kaiser Permanente’s first hospital to be registered under the Green Guide for Health Care.
Some of the Modesto Medical Center’s earth-friendly features include:
- Use of natural light, with large windows incorporated into hallways, patient rooms, and the main entrance.
- The hospital will be fully wired with its electronic care system, KP Health Connect, eliminating the need for paper records
- Resilient rubber flooring over vinyl. One major perk of rubber is that it never needs to be waxed or stripped, thus eliminating the need for chemical cleaners.
- PVC-free carpeting, backed with recycled film, used throughout the building.
- PVC-free bumper guards and safety rails on patient floors.
- Phovoltaic lighting for the parking lot and walkways.
- Landscaping comprised of native, drought tolerant plants and grasses – resulting in less water waste and fewer chemicals to maintain.
- Permeable pavement in the driveway which allows rainwater to filter through, recharging groundwater and filtering chemicals from runoff.
- Rooftop solar panels generating enough power for 20 homes, but of course in this case, they’ll be powering the medical facility.
- Reflective or “cool” roofing
- Greener furniture and fixtures.
- Hospital food from local farmers will be served.
Kaiser Permanente is using the Modesto facility as a good practice model and plans on incorporating the same green aspects into future facilities.
I think this is pretty cool. It’s nice to see a typical commercial structure, one that many people will use, go green. There’s plenty of learning opportunities here, both for individuals who receive care and for other medical facilities. It’ll be great to see what works best for a green project of this scope.
What do you think? I know that given the choice, I’d be more likely to choose a green medical facility. Would you?
It’s the Blogtoberfest icon! Which means a super keen (and secret) prize is hidden behind this special blog post. If you want to win the great prize that I’m hiding, simply leave a comment on this post. A totally easy way to win a prize. Within a week, the winner of the hidden prize will be announced here at Tree Hugging Family, so check back often.
Other ways to win a prize! You have lots of chances to win great Blogtoberfest prizes? Today, October 6th, there are secret special prizes hiding at the following Lifestyles Channel blogs: Offbeat Homes, Simply Thrifty, Blog Fabulous, Drinks After Dark, Mother Earth’s Garden, Thrifty Mommy, Chocolate Bytes, Foodie Obsessed, Keeping the Castle, and Our One Heart. Visit all of these blogs, look for the blogtoberfest icon on a post, and leave a comment for your chance at another great prize.
Good luck and happy blogtoberfest!
How fun! I’d love a chance to win!
LoL It depends on if I would need to drive farther! but seriously, on principal, I would.
If they are truly green, shouldn’t they include some non-traditional practitioners?
Definitely would love to be able to choose a greener facility. I think the newer hospitals and clinics that have been built here (in northern CO) have incorporated better green practices (than previous), but they still could do so much more.
i’d love a green facility. Its just as easy to build green and use green products as everything else. I’m glad there is a collective consciousness towards more green/environmentally friendly avenues now
I would definately pick a green facility – on a lot of different levels. Love that they are serving local food, supporting area farmers.
I think a green facility is great. Now to get more companies and such to do the same. Whatever we can do to help save our environment would be great.
I love the idea of a green health care facility, especially if it was a birthing center with fantastic midwives!
I would feel better going to a place like that, than a conventional place. Hopefully that is a taste of the future.
interesting….
It is nice to see such ideas being implemented. Out here in Denver, being green has become much more mainstream. Thanks!
Oh, that’s awesome.
That’s awesome! It’s nice that it’s being done
I would absolutely choose a greener facility. Being green means progressive which would translate to the care also. I hope to see this trend growing.
I would love to know that I was getting my health care at a green hospital or doctor’s office! It’s a pity it will take forever for something like this to occur anywhere near me.
the more green we can be, the more green – healthy our health will be. So sign me up. It is time we start cleaning with products we can use around food and people that are not poisons.
Yay green facilities! Less chemical pollution will probably decrease nosocomial infections, too.
I’d like to see Canadian health care facilities go greener, but I wouldn’t travel too far to access a green facility because the environmental cost of travel might exceed the benefits.
I would choose the hospital with the least staph infections! Thanks, Cindi
This is a good initiative. I just hope that it can be replicated in other parts of North America and Europe. I am happy to live in South Asia. Life is much greener here.
It’d be nice if this kind of hospital would become the norm.
bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
It’s nice to see more and more larger corporations ‘go green,’ though I’d really like to see more ‘go green’ products available to the average consumer.
we used to have kaiser, if a green one was near us I would use it
I would choose a green healthcare facility for non-emergent care as long as it was within reasonable driving distance; otherwise, you bet your butt I’d be driving 90 mph to the nearest ER, even if it was made out of non-recyclable petroleum-based plastics and formaldehyde!
Green is good. I would certainly use a green facility.
I just love this surprise prize concept! Let’s do it again and again and again! I need some excitement in my humdrum existence!
dlcwin[at]gmail[dot]com
That’s pretty cool, I used to live near Modesto and had Kaiser when I lived there. I like this, very nice.