Original story posted on PHC Connect (internal website) by Suzan Lee, Department Administrator at Providence Health Care and Environmental Stewardship Team member.
The Providence Health Care (Providence) Cardiac Short Stay Unit (CSSU) teamed up with the Environmental Stewardship Team (ESTeam) Waste Working Group to run a sustainability pilot project from June through September 2024.
CSSU sees 20-25 patients per day. Patients admitted are assigned a stretcher, which comes with a plastic bag for their belongings. When discharged, patients either take the plastic bag or, if left behind, they are discarded.
The aim of the pilot project was to reduce the use of plastic bags for patients’ belongings by at least 50 per cent.
The outcome far exceeded expectations. The usage dropped from 100 plastic bags per week to four.
The drop in usage had a significant impact on plastic bag purchasing. Prior to the pilot project, 500 bags were purchased monthly to maintain an inventory of 500 plastic bags. After the pilot project, the purchase frequency dropped to quarterly as only an inventory of 250 plastic bags was needed.
Who are the pilot project team leads?
ESTeam waste working group co-leads Karmen Wong, registered cardiology technologist, and Leyla Khosrovpour, registered nurse, and Julie Werry, performance improvement consultant.
What were the key steps in the pilot project?
- CSSU’s admission requirements were updated with a new information sheet asking patients to bring their own reusable bags no larger than 20 inches by 20 inches (50cm x 50 cm).
- Admission workflow was modified by removing automatic provision of plastic bags; rather bags were provided only upon request.
- The number of plastic bags used was tracked.
What were the key lessons learned?
Patient participation posed no barrier. The pilot project team learned that patients were very open to bringing their own reusable bags. Also, there was no increase in PSLS incidents of lost patient property.
Why is this sustainability pilot project important?
Canadian healthcare is responsible for over 300 tonnes of DAILY nonhazardous waste and 4.6% of all Canadian greenhouse gas emissions.
At SPH, implementing this success proven pilot project to other SPH clinics and services can have an enormous waste reduction impact (source).
