MORE THAN JUST GREAT SALAD
Tad Wilkes
Aspirus Health’s hydroponic gardens a prescription for wellness.
Often, hospital cafeterias can foster a benign, if not uneasy atmosphere, existing merely as a practical, onsite dining option for harried staff and worried visitors. But across the Aspirus Health system, cafeterias and other spaces have taken on the role of oasis—cultivating healing physically and mentally. Aspirus serves communities through four hospitals in Michigan and 13 hospitals in Wisconsin, as well as at 75 clinics and through home health and hospice care, pharmacies, critical care and air-medical transport, medical goods, nursing homes and a broad network of physicians. In 2018, Aspirus launched its Sustainability Initiative systemwide to implement sustainability initiatives intended to improve the lives of patients and the health the communities they serve. The program’s goals include reducing each facility’s carbon footprint by 80% and energy costs by 50%, as well as maximizing green health, by 2030. To that last goal, within the Sustainability Initiative is a mission to grow and serve healthier food. “Under that umbrella, each individual hospital has a green team, led by employees who are empowered to work on projects they feel are important for their specific facility and community,” says Lindsay Jenson, co-chair of the green team at Aspirus Keweenaw in Laurium, Mich.
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