TAMPA, Fla., May 13, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SRI/Surgical Express, Inc. (Nasdaq:STRC), a leading provider of reusable surgical products and reprocessing services supporting the healthcare industry, announced today that Practice Greenhealth presented its "Champion for Change Award" to SRI Surgical for outstanding contributions to environmentally responsible health care. Practice Greenhealth, a national membership organization for health care facilities committed to environmentally responsible operations, honored its top performers at the Environmental Excellence Awards this week held in Baltimore, MD in conjunction with CleanMed, the premier Global Conference on Environmentally Sustainable Health Care.
The Champion for Change award recognizes businesses and organizations that demonstrate successful accomplishments in 'greening' their own organization and have assisted their associated healthcare facility clients/members/customers in improving their environmental performance.
"This award is a reflection of SRI Surgical's commitment to their healthcare customers to protect patient health and preserve the environment," said Bob Jarboe, Executive Director, Practice Greenhealth. "It is exciting to know that SRI Surgical is leading this effort and setting an example for other institutions."
Gerald Woodard, CEO, SRI Surgical commented, "We are honored to accept Practice Greenhealth's Champion for Change Award for the second year in a row. Our employees worked hard over the last year to ensure we met our 2009 established goals of waste reduction, ISO 14001 certification, development and implementation of an Environmental Communication Plan, and conversion to NPE free detergents. Additionally, SRI Surgical has continued to support and promote Practice Greenhealth in its efforts to assist healthcare facilities and businesses within the healthcare industry achieve their goal of real environmental sustainability."
SRI Surgical has a 19 year history of providing environmentally preferable products to its healthcare clients. Our customers understand that waste avoidance begins by purchasing the appropriate reusable product that meets the procedural clinical need. SRI Surgical's products are manufactured to be reused and reprocessed. Daily delivery and retrieval of the reusable items, along with reprocessing that occurs in SRI-owned facilities, represents a real opportunity for hospitals to incorporate a sustainable waste avoidance program while continuing to provide the best of care and safety for their patients and staff.
Over the last nine years SRI Surgical has assisted healthcare facilities avoid 129,813,451 lbs of waste that would have otherwise gone to land fills or been processed potentially increasing GHG pollutants into our air.
Along with being a charter member of Practice Greenhealth, SRI Surgical is an EPA WasteWise Partner, an EPA SmartWay Transport Partner, a Member of the EPA's CLIMATE LEADERS Small Business Network, and the recipient of the EPA Safe Detergents Award (SDSI). SRI Surgical is also a founding sponsor of Practice Greenhealth's latest initiative, "Greening the OR".
Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading membership and networking organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Members include hospitals, healthcare systems, businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the greening of healthcare to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment. Practice Greenhealth is a source of environmental solutions for the healthcare sector. For more information on Practice Greenhealth, healthy initiatives, current trends, news and views, and other links to earth-friendly organizations, visit www.practicegreenhealth.org.
The Practice Greenhealth Logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6218
About SRI Surgical
SRI Surgical (Nasdaq: STRC) provides central processing and supply chain management services to hospitals and surgery centers across the United States. Because it relies primarily on reusable products, SRI's reprocessing cycle substantially reduces bio-hazardous waste and its impact on the environment. SRI Surgical serves hospitals and surgery centers in 19 states from 10 reprocessing facilities and four distribution centers located throughout the United States. More information about the company may be found at (www.srisurgical.com).
The SRI/Surgical Express, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4997