Exploring Latex Allergy 5. Latex-free Product Sources 6. Legacy Health System Legacy Health System, a nonprofit based in Oregon, has been saving money through purchasing practices for many years. Legacy's waste reduction and recycling program was started in the 70's by concerned hospital nurses. After an intern determined that they could save money by implementing a full waste reduction program, Legacy hired its first Recycling Specialist in 1991.
Legacy now has a multi-disciplinary task force with a strong environmental business philosophy.
Many departments are represented at the meetings, and a subset of the task force looks at reuse and durable product issues to determine where changes could be made to benefit all. The task force does a lot of up-front cost analysis as well as looking at the full life cycle of the products used in the hospital to determine if a switch is beneficial. Once a change has been implemented, the committee follows up with cost savings and life cycle usage analyses, taking advantage of the information provided by the finance and purchasing departments. Additional purchasing practices include routinely buying supplies in bulk, purchasing custom packs to eliminate inventory of unneeded supplies, replacement of many disposable batteries with rechargables, and using standard contracting language mandating that all copiers have double-side capacity. A number of hospitals think so.