Rush University Medical Center has undertaken many sustainability initiatives with the goal of managing and minimizing its carbon footprint and becoming a leader in sustainable health care. The Medical Center's Environmental Sustainability Team has executive suite level support and works with various subcommittees to evaluate resource consumption, minimize waste, and focus on sustainability.
The Department of Anesthesiology’s Green Team has made great progress in reducing the department’s environmental impact with various approaches.
- Our laryngoscope handles have lithium batteries inside and we have partnered with a recycling company to recycle these lithium batteries. This keeps valuable metals and minerals from accumulating in landfills. We also recycle alkaline batteries that we use in our pagers, train of four monitors, and various other pieces of equipment.
- We educate all anesthesia providers on the impact that our anesthetic gases have on greenhouses gases and global warming. One of our anesthetic gases, desflurane, is 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than sevoflurane. It remains in the atmosphere for 14 years. In March 2025, we removed the last desflurane vaporizer from the OR.
- We are working with Rush’s Environmental Sustainability Team to evaluate removing nitrous oxide from the pipeline system and replace it with cylinders. Several institutions around the country have found major leaks in their pipeline systems leading to nitrous oxide leaking into the atmosphere.
- And perhaps most exciting of all, we have joined a program with Stryker Corporation that diverts various OR equipment, including pulse ox probes and laparoscopic surgical tools, from the landfill. It leads to thousands of pounds of equipment being diverted from the landfill each year. Stryker Corporation also offers carbon neutral shipping for our equipment and diversion program and actively plants trees in response to the amount of equipment we divert from the landfill on a monthly basis.
This is a small start in the long journey towards becoming a leader in sustainable health care but having any positive impact on the environment is super exciting!
Green Committee members
Sarah M. Cocoma, MD
Samantha Pratt, CRNA
Maiko Yamashita, CRNA
Kelly Gallagher, CRNA
Environmental Excellence Award
Rush University Medical Center was awarded a GOLD Award by Stryker Sustainability Solution’s team for their efforts to reduce waste. In 2021, Rush diverted 10,000 pounds of waste, and in 2024, we diverted 31,000 pounds of waste. We are continuing to work toward more sustainable process, workflows, and operations in the coming years and appreciate the efforts of all the Rush teams.
