Sustainability

Boulder Community Health understands that environmental health—clean air, water and soil—is ultimately linked to human health. As a community-owned, nonprofit health care organization, we consider it our responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of our operations. Our ongoing goals are to reduce our waste stream, increase our use of renewable energy and implement sustainable practices wherever possible.

We’ve been fortunate to positively impact the health care industry worldwide. We opened Foothills Hospital—the first health care facility in the U.S. to attain prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in 2003. Three years later, we received the Environmental Leadership Award from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, recognition of our ongoing commitment to be an environmentally responsive citizen.

Through collaboration with our employees and our partners, BCH continually strives to improve and set even higher goals. Here are some sustainability highlights:

• Our sustainability values grew from our community. Concerned citizens at BCH—doctors, nurses, janitors, cafeteria workers—began informally reducing, reusing and recycling in 1990. In 1995, our Board of Directors adopted an Environmental Impact Plan to guide our efforts.
• Foothills Hospital: The first U.S. hospital to earn environmental (LEED) certification. In 2003, Foothills Hospital became the health care facility in the U.S. to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. This national green-building program fosters the development of high-performance sustainable buildings. At Foothills, that meant a highly efficient power plant, energy-efficient lighting, and conserving water. In 2006, we worked with local partner Namaste Solar to install the first roof-top solar system on a U.S. hospital, and continue to add solar to new buildings.
• BCH strives toward zero waste. Longtime local partner Eco-Cycle has helped BCH achieve a waste-reduction rate of 52 percent through initiatives like composting. We credit our sustainability program with $1 million in annual cost savings and cost avoidance.
• We have donated more than $2 million in medical equipment to developing countries since 2004. Local nonprofit Project C.U.R.E distributes desperately needed medical equipment to clinics worldwide. One of BCH’s major donations was a complete Cardiac Catheterization Lab that went to a children’s hospital in Ethiopia.
• BCH encourages suppliers to deliver more sustainable products. BCH actively helped Vizient, a group purchasing organization that works with U.S. health care organizations, develop an environmental advisory committee to come up with more sustainable manufacturing processes.
• All employees get a free RTD Eco-Pass. BCH was the first Denver-metro-area employer to provide this benefit, which makes it free or very low-cost for employees to commute via public transportation.
• BCH encourages suppliers to deliver more sustainable products. BCH actively helped Vizient, a group purchasing organization that works with U.S. health care organizations, develop an environmental advisory committee to come up with more sustainable manufacturing processes.