THE LINK BETWEEN COST AND SAFETY

Many hospital officials are reluctant to switch to environmentally-friendly cleaners because they're worried about the cost. But both HUMC and NBHN have seen double-digit reductions in their maintenance budgets since implementing the change.

"The knock I would always hear about green cleaning was that it's more expensive to use those green chemicals than it is to use the stuff I've been using," said Lucey. "I've got one word for that: 'bunk.' It comes down to your dispensing system and it comes down to your training."

In 2004, Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx had a combined total of 15 chemical exposure incidents resulting in 54 lost days. Within a year of implementing green cleaning, those numbers were cut in half, and for the last three years running, they have completely eliminated employee illnesses due to chemical-related accidents.

That has helped contribute to an 18 percent annual cost savings since 2005, even while the organization has expanded square footage. It also gives Lucey peace of mind.

"On the moral end, I don't have an employee out," he said.

Likewise, Hackensack University Medical Center has seen a 15 percent cost savings since implementing green cleaning, with a big part of that savings coming from a 98 percent reduction in employee injuries due to cleaning products.

"We used to average 12 to 13 incidents per year when we used the traditional products; somebody would get a rash, a burn or an asthma attack," said Ronchi. Since we started using these products back in 2001, there have been two occurrences of a complaint from a staff member and one was actually from a disinfectant that is not one of our products and the other one was from a floor stripper that was being used by a team member who actually shouldn't have been using it."

Those savings have since led both organizations to further green their facilities.

HUMC has built an entirely green 300,000-square-foot center for women and children and Deirdre Imus has gone on to help implement her Greening the Cleaning line in hundreds of other facilities including schools, hospitals and even an airport.All profits from the sales of Mrs. Imus' cleaners go to support education and research at the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology.

Meanwhile, North Bronx Healthcare Network set about expanding its recycling program, switching to a reusable disposal system for sharps and doing away with paper gowns in favor of reusable ones, which are then laundered in an environmentally responsible way.

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