Telling the Hospital Story: Mason Health

Mason Health in Shelton, Wash. is taking a holistic approach to public health by working toward a sustainable community and environment. Through their environmental strategy and commitment, they have taken major steps to become more energy efficient, reduce waste, and source materials locally while continuing to provide quality care to patients.

In 2020, Mason Health announced a partnership with Practice Greenhealth, a nonprofit that works with hospitals and healthcare organizations across the country to support sustainable practices in health care. Since then, they’ve built on this collaboration by adopting a range of green practices in line with their environmental commitment.

Mason Health’s award-winning sustainability initiatives cover a range of areas, including: 
•    Reducing single use items, particularly within culinary services; 
•    Collaborating with local farms and businesses for a more sustainable food supply chain;
•    Decreasing paper usage across the hospital district through the Tree Zero Paper program;
•    Recycling single-use medical tools and devices through their partnership with Stryker Sustainability Solutions; 
•    Reducing surgical smoke within Mason Health operating rooms, which are now 100% smoke-free; 
•    Continuation of their medication disposal program, which allows Mason County residents to safely discard unused medications; 
•    Achieving Energy Star certification for multiple facilities for the second year in a row; and more. 

To learn more about Mason Health’s environmentally-friendly practices and how they balance them with providing quality care to patients, read this Thurston Talk article.