Rapid City Hospital receives Environmental Excellence Award

Monument Health Rapid City Hospital recently received the Stryker Gold Environmental Excellence Award in recognition of sustainability efforts. To earn this award, our caregivers identified and recycled 13 tons of single-use medical equipment.

Stryker is a medical technology company that manufactures and sells surgical and medical equipment. At Rapid City Hospital, ultrasonic scalpels, ligatures, EP catheters and ECG leads were recycled and sent to Stryker Sustainability Solutions for reprocessing and remanufacturing, rather than going to a landfill.

Throughout 2022, caregivers recycled more than 26,000 pounds of medical equipment. Once recaptured items are processed or remanufactured and quality tested, they can be repurchased at lower costs resulting in savings and reduced waste. By working with Stryker and committing to purchasing recycled materials, Monument Health saved more than $426,000 in 2022.

Jace Brock, a buyer with Supply Chain, coordinated the partnership with Stryker contributing to the award. He says sustainability is a passion and this partnership is just one of many sustainability initiatives within the organization. “These are not large objects so it demonstrates just how much is being kept out of landfills,” said Brock, noting the scope of the project. “They add up to more than 25,000 pounds.”

He credits widespread cooperation throughout the hospital for being able to capture and divert that much waste. “This recognition represents our caregivers and their support of this partnership,” he said, “Without their continued efforts, we would never capture and divert this much waste.”