MCCG Receives Healthy Hospital Award for Exceptional Leadership in Health Care Resource Sustainability

MACON, GA (February 21, 2011) – The Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) is proud to announce it has received a Healthy Hospital Award from Ascent, a division of Stryker Corporation. The “healthy hospital” designation is reserved for hospitals that demonstrate outstanding efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of health care delivery and improve overall hospital quality through medical device remanufacturing and reprocessing.

In 2010, MCCG's reprocessing program reduced its supply costs by $116,257 – savings that have been redirected to key patient care initiatives. At the same time, using remanufactured and reprocessed medical devices has reduced the hospital's medical waste by 9,937 pounds.

“We are pleased to recognize The Medical Center of Central Georgia for optimizing hospital resources to improve overall quality of patient care,” said Rick Ferreira, president of Ascent, a Stryker Sustainability Solution. “In today's health care environment, we need more leaders like The Medical Center of Central Georgia that are implementing innovative supply chain strategies to reduce costs and optimize resources in order to support quality care.”

Hospitals and hospital networks across the nation are pursuing initiatives to reduce the environmental footprint of health care delivery. Among these initiatives, reprocessing and remanufacturing single-use devices stands out as an environmental practice that not only radically reduces the amount of medical waste, but at the same time frees significant resources for the hospital – all without capital investment.

MCCG is in the distinguished company of other leading hospitals that are implementing reprocessing programs. In fact, reprocessing programs are currently employed by all of the U.S. News & World Report “Honor Roll” hospitals – or the top 14 institutions nationwide.

MCCG has partnered with Ascent, the nation's leading re-processor of medical devices, on its reprocessing programs since 2005.