Customer profile: Legacy Health
Legacy Health, Oregon’s only locally owned nonprofit healthcare organization, includes Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, The Children’s Hospital Legacy Emanuel, Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center, Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center, Legacy Laboratory Services, Legacy Research, Legacy Medical Group and CareMark/Managed HealthCare Northwest PPO.
Legacy Health purchases Clean Wind℠ power from PGE at the Gold level for Good Samaritan Medical Center, and the Silver level for Meridian Park Medical Center and Mount Hood Medical Center.
Renewable Report recently spoke with Legacy Health about its sustainability efforts.
Why did Legacy Health originally decide to purchase renewable energy?
“Legacy Health has a longstanding commitment to sustainability programs. Our participation in PGE’s Clean Wind program is another way we can contribute to the health of the communities we serve.”
What are some of Legacy Health’s sustainability or green initiatives?
“Our sustainability efforts include:
- A strategic focus on energy and water resource management. Utilizing a team approach and a resource management plan, we work closely with our facilities management staff, our employees, our utility partners and energy-efficiency organizations to identify resource conservation projects and develop efficiency plans for each site.
- A sustainable supply chain program that incorporates triple-bottom-line best practices in our supplier selection and management processes.
- Hospital cafeterias serving local and organic foods to patients, employees and visitors.
- Local farmers markets at most of our hospital sites, along with engagement with local community supported agriculture.
- Employee “Green Teams” that generate ideas and carry out projects to improve Legacy’s sustainability efforts at our area hospitals.
- An aggressive recycling program that diverts approximately 2,315 tons of waste from landfills annually through co-mingle recycling, composting, electronic waste and advanced environmental technologies in medical waste disposal. This has led to approximately 36 percent diversion of our total waste away from landfills, compared to the national average for hospitals of approximately 22 percent.”
Learn more about
Legacy Health. You can also find a searchable list of all businesses who buy renewable power at
GreenPowerOregon.com.