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VHA Citizenship and Sustainability Scorecard Shows Progress in the Health Care Network's Earth-Friendly Business Practices

VHA Releases "Go Green" Principles to Change the Nature of Business Operations

VHA Citizenship and Sustainability Scorecard Shows Progress in the Health Care Network's Earth-Friendly Business Practices

VHA Releases "Go Green" Principles to Change the Nature of Business Operations

Published 06-24-09

Submitted by VHA Inc.

IRVING, Texas, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- VHA Inc., the national network of not-for-profit, community-owned hospitals, today released its second annual Corporate Citizenship & Sustainability Scorecard, showing progress in sustainability-related efforts across VHA and its family of companies. Ratings also improved in key workplace indicators, including improved employee satisfaction, workplace diversity, and training and development programs. VHA's CC&S Scorecard tracks progress in four strategic business areas: workplace, operational transparency, community engagement and sustainability.

"Over the past year, our family of companies - VHA, Novation and Provista - acted in ways that not only enhanced member services and supported our mission, but positively impacted our world," said Curt Nonomaque, VHA's president and chief executive officer. "How we operate is just as important as the financial results we deliver. In fact," Nonomaque added, "they are inseparably linked. We can't have one without the other."

This year's CC&S Scorecard includes some of the names and faces of employees who have taken the citizenship and sustainability value to heart, leading efforts to be more efficient and create a positive business environment that is good for employees, hospital members and local communities.

"Our progress would not be possible without dedicated efforts by team members across the company and throughout our regions," said Michael Regier, VHA's general counsel and senior vice president of Legal and Corporate Affairs. "From visionary leadership to employees who come in every day with fresh ideas to make a difference, we all contribute to reducing costs, limiting waste and increasing efficiency."

Some of the employee stories included:

  • Donna Clutter, director of Business Development and Marketing at VHA Central in Indiana, and her team spearheaded a special program involving hospitals across the region - Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan - that focused on sharing strategies to support and lead hospitals to sustainable operations.
  • Jennifer Waddell, senior director of Contract and Program Services at Novation, led the team that launched Novation's Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP) product catalogue. With more than 3,000 products and growing, the new catalogue helps VHA hospital members achieve green purchasing objectives.
  • Derek Mims, service desk manager at VHA, pioneered a recycling program for outdated IT equipment that fulfills EPA regulations and keeps waste out of landfills.
  • Robert Ayr, manager of Production Services at VHA, began utilizing new software, which allowed VHA to host multiple applications on a single server, reducing its carbon footprint and saving $15,000 in energy consumption a year.
Nonomaque also announced the company's new "Go Green Principles," which outline how the company strives to fulfill its mission to improve its health care members' clinical and economic performance while also shrinking its environmental footprint. The six principles range from seeking business partners that share VHA's commitment to the environment, to measuring and benchmarking performance, to communicating its environmental practices with employees and members.

To view the CC&S Scorecard, including the six Go Green Principles, visit www.vha.com.

About VHA - VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance, and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Formed in 1977, VHA serves more than 1,400 hospitals and more than 23,000 non-acute care providers nationwide.

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