FORT WAYNE – Six Parkview Health facilities were recently recognized by the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) for ongoing efforts to reduce energy consumption and improve sustainability.
Parkview Regional Medical Center (PRMC) and Parkview LaGrange Hospital (PLH) were both named Energy to Care Award winners, which recognizes facilities that have reduced their baseline energy consumption by 10% or more in a single year or 15% or more over two years.
PRMC, PLH, Parkview Huntington Hospital, Parkview Wabash Hospital, Parkview Whitley Hospital and Parkview SurgeryONE were also recognized as Sustained Performance Award winners, which honors past Energy to Care Award winners who continue to meet sustainability goals by maintaining or further reducing annual emissions and energy usage.
"Responsible resource management goes hand-in-hand with good health and helps reduce the impact on our environment, whether that's water use, energy use or carbon emissions," said Tom Minnich, vice president of facilities, Parkview Health. "At Parkview, we continue to look for ways to conserve resources and promote long-term sustainability while maintaining our ability to provide the highest quality care and experience for the communities we serve."
Parkview has worked on multiple energy-saving initiatives, including implementing temperature control parameters and occupancy schedules to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat and cool spaces such as offices, corridors and common spaces; enhancing existing equipment programming to ensure it is operating at maximum efficiency; and using analytic software systems to monitor equipment performance in order to stay ahead of maintenance issues.
ASHE is a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association. More than 12,000 members rely on ASHE as a critical source of professional development, information and advocacy, including representation on key issues that affect their work in the health care physical environment.
Energy to Care is ASHE's award-winning sustainability program dedicated to helping health care facilities track their energy, water and emissions reduction efforts, and celebrates hospitals and health systems that go above and beyond in achieving their sustainability goals. More than 4,400 facilities have participated in the Energy to Care program since 2010 and have seen a combined savings of more than $550 million.
Parkview is among 102 participating facilities to receive this distinction in 2024, representing just 2.3% of facilities enrolled in the Energy to Care Program. Participants record and report their energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, in the Energy to Care Dashboard.
"This award signifies Parkview's ongoing commitment to sustainable practices and advancing decarbonization in the health care field," says Kara Brooks, senior associate director of sustainability at the American Hospital Association. "I applaud the Parkview team for its diligence in upholding these new standards for reduced energy and emissions for the benefit of the communities they serve."
Reducing energy use in the healthcare industry is an ongoing goal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and work toward net-zero emissions before 2050. Hospital care and physician and clinical services account for about half of emissions, 48%, produced in the healthcare industry nationally, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Parkview Health serves more than 20 counties in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio, with 14 hospitals and nearly 300 Parkview Physicians Group locations. With more than 16,000 co-workers, Parkview is the region's largest employer.