The Caritas Christi Health Care system has agreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to audit 66 of its facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for compliance with federal and state environmental regulations and correct any violations.
The deal with the Catholic hospital network, the second-largest health care system in New England, is part of a larger effort launched last spring by the EPA’s local office to increase environmental compliance by hospitals in the region.
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In a news release, the EPA said the effort was prompted by “concerns that many New England hospitals may not be in full compliance with environmental laws,” and also by the experience of the EPA’s New York/New Jersey office, which has taken action against several hospitals after “significant non-compliance” was found during inspections.
Health care facilities are a major part of New England’s economy, but they can also pose “major environmental and public health concerns,” the EPA says, and they are known to contribute to the presence of mercury, dioxin, and other toxic substances in the environment.
Hospitals are also major producers of waste in general, the EPA says, producing 2 million tons of solid waste each year, or 1 percent of the nation’s total municipal solid waste.
In April last year, Robert W. Varney, the EPA’s New England regional administrator, sent a letter to more than 250 hospitals in New England highlighting the problem and alerting them to his office’s new health care initiative.
“Many hospital functions such as laboratories, power plants and vehicle maintenance facilities have the potential to cause environmental violations if not properly managed,” Varney wrote. “I strongly encourage you to identify and correct any such violations.”
To help health care facilities do a better job, the EPA has sponsored training opportunities, worked directly with hospital staff and, most notably, launched the National Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program, a partnership with the American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm.
H2E’s goals are to eliminate the use of mercury in health care; cut health care waste in half by 2010, and identify and eliminate persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic chemicals. So far, 124 New England health care facilities have joined, including Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Kent Hospital and South County Hospital.
On the enforcement front, the EPA’s health care initiative has so far led to actions in New Hampshire and Connecticut – including a self-audit pact with Yale-New Haven Hospital – but none in Rhode Island or, until last month’s Caritas action, in Massachusetts.
The Caritas audit will cover Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston; Saint Anne’s Hospital, Fall River; Caritas Norwood Hospital, Norwood; Caritas Carney Hospital, Dorchester; Caritas Holy Family Hospital, Methuen; Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center, Brockton; and associated clinical and research labs, physician groups and other affiliated entities as well as Caritas Labouré College, a nursing and allied health professions school.
“Caritas Christi has long embraced and supported a commitment to just stewardship of our human and material resources,” Dr. Michael Kneeland, the network’s vice president for medical affairs, said in a news release. “Our environmental health and safety programs reflect concern for our neighbors and are consistent with our desire to ensure environmental compliance in the communities we serve. We enthusiastically partner with the Environmental Protection Agency to continue to improve our environmental programs.”
Under the agreement, the network will complete a comprehensive environmental audit within the next two years covering all relevant state and federal environmental requirements. Caritas Christi has agreed to disclose any violations that it finds to the EPA, and correct those violations within 60 days of discovery. If it uncovers violations that pose a serious threat to human health or the environment, it has agreed to correct the problems immediately.
“Caritas Christi Health Care should be applauded for embracing a proactive approach to complying with environmental laws,” the EPA’s Varney said. “The Agency looks forward to working with Caritas Christi and other New England hospitals as we embrace this innovative means to achieving compliance.”
For more information on the EPA’s work with health care facilities, to sign up for an e-mail list geared to the health care industry, or to learn more about H2E, go to www.epa.gov/NE/healthcare.
