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| Contributed Photo Maine DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho, left, presented Cary Medical Center Lab Tech Lisa Prescott and Cary CEO Kris Doody, RN, with the 2013 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence at a ceremony recently in Winslow. Cary won for its Safe Sharps Disposal Program, which provides the community a safe option for disposal of its household medical sharps. |
Hospital’s sharps program a ‘model of collaboration’
Cary Medical Center has become the first hospital in Maine to be awarded the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.
Maine DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho and Senior Natural Resources Policy Advisor to Governor LePage Carlisle McLean honored Cary, along with four other stewards of sustainability, with state-sponsored environmental achievement awards.
Commissioner Aho and McLean presented 2013 Environmental Excellence awards, administered by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, in a ceremony at Mid-State Machine Products, a precision manufacturer located in Winslow.
Cary won in the not-for-profit category. The hospital was recognized for launching the Cary Medical Center Safe Sharps Disposal Program with a vision to provide community options for disposal of household medical sharps; especially critical given The County has one of Maine’s highest rates of diabetes.
In 2012 a total of 86 boxes, or 4,300 pounds, of community medical sharps had been collected at six partnering community sites. Cary’s program was inspiration for the DEP’s own sharps education campaign in 2012.
“It is an honor for Cary Medical Center to accept the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for our community-based safe sharps disposal program,” said Cary CEO Kris Doody, RN. “This program represents the collaborative efforts of multiple community partners and creates a safe solution to the disposal of community generated medical sharps. The project speaks well to our vision as we aspire to create a healthier community.”
Cary Laboratory Technologist Lisa Prescott joined Cary’s CEO Doody in accepting the award. Prescott, who came up with the original idea for the safe sharps disposal program, said that collaboration was the key to the program’s success.
“We would never have been able to make this project work without the support of so many people and organizations,” said Prescott, who also teaches in the MLT program at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. “The Caribou Police Department led the way by agreeing to host a kiosk for sharps disposal. The Presque Isle Kiwanis Club, Caribou Rotary Club and the Maine Community Foundation contributed more than $6,000 to purchase the kiosks, which allowed us to expand to the Presque Isle Police Department. Then the area landfill operators joined the effort by agreeing to safely dispose of the used sharps containers, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection provided a $10,000 grant to expand the program to police departments in Fort Kent, Madawaska, Fort Fairfield and Houlton. The program demonstrates what can be done by thinking outside the box and working together.”
Senior staff from the governor’s office and from Maine DEP, representatives from each of the winning organizations, members of the Board of Environmental Protection and the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee, and leaders from Maine’s environment and business community attended the awards. Recipients were recognized for voluntarily going beyond regulatory requirements for innovation in environmental sustainability.
Commissioner Aho said it was important for the state to acknowledge Maine’s many environmental leaders who are modeling her department’s vision of a mutually healthy environment and economy.
“Maine has long been a national leader when it comes to environmental excellence and our 2013 governor’s awards recipients are carrying on that legacy,” Aho said. “As Maine’s foremost environmental organization, it has great meaning when we respect and recognize these leaders and that the innovation improving our environment and our economy comes directly from Maine employers and people, understanding that a healthy environment and a strong economy support one another and where stewardship of our natural resources ensures a vibrant economy.”
Other recipients of the Environmental Excellence Award were Edwards United Technologies of Pittsfield, Meadowmere Resort Family Farm in Ogunquit, Agri-Energy and Stonyvale Farm in Exeter and Window Dressers in Rockport. Each organization was presented with an individual plaque recognizing their achievement.
