BMH recently received an award from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) for eliminating toxic mercury from our facility. Traveling to the site of the national celebration to receive the "Making Medicine Mercury-Free" award was Rob Prohaska, BMH Plant Services Director (3rd from l.). Prohaska attended in lieu of Richard Nelson, BMH Environmental Services Director who gathered the information and submitted the application for the award. Rob is flanked by (left to right): Anna Gilmore-Hall, Chair of the H2E Board of Directors and also Executive Director of Health Care Without Harm; Laura Brannen, Executive Director of H2E; and Mac Robinson, H2E board member and Vice President of Professional Member Groups, American Hospital Association.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital was recently recognized as a leader in improving patient, community, and environmental health in being awarded the Making Medicine Mercury-Free Award.

This award was presented in May of this year at the Environment Excellence Summit hosted by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E). The prestigious national award commends BMH for outstanding efforts to eliminate mercury from the healthcare system.

“We believe that our mission to promote the health of our community includes protecting the environment,” said BMH CEO Barry Beeman. “Making our community healthier by replacing mercury devices in our facility with safe and effective alternatives just makes sense. We are proud to be recognized for our efforts.”

“By eliminating mercury wherever possible, BMH is demonstrating to its patients, employees, and community that mercury and its associated risks have no place in health care,” according to Laura Brannen, Executive Director of Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. “There are safe and cost-effective alternatives to mercury. BMH deserves our thanks for addressing this critical threat to our health and the environment.”

Jointly founded by the American Hospital Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Without Harm, and the American Nurses Association, H2E is an independent not-for-profit organization focused on improving health care’s environmental performance.

The Making Medicine Mercury-Free Award is a one-time award given to facilities that have met the challenge of becoming virtually mercury-free. Facilities must take several steps to qualify for the award. To learn more, visit www.h2e-online.org.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital became a partner with Hospitals For A Healthy Environment in December, 2006. Richard Nelson, the Director of Environmental Services submitted an application for the H2E Mercury Free Award. With information gathered from nursing supervisors, the Director of the Pharmacy, the Director of Laboratory Services and the Director of Plant Services, Richard was able to document that Brattleboro Memorial Hospital had replaced all mercury-containing patient care equipment, such as blood pressure monitors and thermometers, with equipment that did not contain mercury. The application was extensive and required detailed documentation. There were follow-up inquiries from the H2E judges that required a response. It was very gratifying to have this hospital-wide advance in Environmental Safety recognized and awarded by Hospitals For A Healthy Environment.