SEATTLE – (May 26, 2016) — Virginia Mason has been awarded Practice Greenhealth’s Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award for the second year in a row. The prestigious environmental achievement award for 2016 is reserved for hospitals that lead the industry with innovation in sustainability, demonstrate superior programs and illustrate how sustainability is entrenched in the hospital’s culture.

Virginia Mason has also been recognized in the top 10 performing hospitals in seven categories of Practice Greenhealth’s Circle of Excellence Awards, the highest honor in the nation. They received awards in the categories of Leadership, Waste, Water, Energy, Climate, Sustainable Purchasing, and Greening the OR (Operating Room).

“I am so proud of the Virginia Mason team,” said Brenna Davis, director, Sustainability. “We know that people health depends on planet health. This achievement signifies the tireless effort of our team to protect the environmental resources that support the health of current and future generations.”

Practice Greenhealth is a leading health care community that empowers its members to increase their environmental safeguards while improving patient safety and care.

Through its EnviroMason environmental stewardship initiative, Virginia Mason diverted more than 4,439 tons of waste from landfills between 2011 and 2015. It recycles more than 50 percent of its waste overall, compared to the health care industry average of 20 percent. With its resource conservation programs, Virginia Mason avoided using 7.3 million gallons of water and 4.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity from 2011 through 2015.

About Virginia Mason Health System
Virginia Mason, founded in 1920, is a nonprofit regional health care system based in Seattle that serves the Pacific Northwest. In the Puget Sound region, the system includes 336-bed Virginia Mason Hospital; a primary and specialty care group practice of more than 500 physicians; regional medical centers in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Federal Way, Kirkland, Issaquah and Lynnwood; Bailey-Boushay House, the first skilled-nursing and outpatient chronic care management program in the U.S. designed and built specifically to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS; Benaroya Research Institute, which is internationally recognized for autoimmune disease research; and Virginia Mason Institute, which trains health care professionals and others from around the world in the Virginia Mason Production System, an innovative management methodology for continually improving quality, safety and efficiency. Virginia Mason online: VirginiaMason.org

Virginia Mason also includes Yakima-based Memorial Family of Services and Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, a 226-bed facility serving the Yakima Valley in Central Washington since 1950. Memorial Family of Services comprises primary care practices and specialty care services, including high quality cardiac care, a continuum of cancer care, hospice care, and advanced services for children with special health care needs. Memorial online: YakimaMemorial.org

Media Contact:
Gale Robinette
Media Relations Manager
Virginia Mason Health System
(206) 341-1509
gale.robinette@VirginiaMason.org