Blanchard Valley Hospital (BVH) has been awarded the 2011 Environmental Excellence Award from Sterilmed Inc. This means that BVH has been recognized as one of the country's best practice facilities in reducing environmental impact and improving overall health care sustainability through medical device recycling.

"In the past 12 months, Blanchard Valley Hospital has diverted nearly 5,000 pounds of single use medical devices from landfills through reprocessing and recycling efforts," said Marlene Brunswick, director of perioperative services at Blanchard Valley Hospital.

According to Sterilmed, BVH is one of the leading U.S. hospitals that restores and recycles medical devices, and in 2011 BVH diverted higher than average medical waste from landfills. This reduces not only the magnitude of waste sent to landfills, but also reduces the cost of providing medical devices to patients.

"We are delighted to distinguish Blanchard Valley Hospital with an Environmental Excellence Award and congratulate them for their commitment to both financial sustainability and medical waste reduction in the community. BVH is steadfast in its reprocessing program and should be proud of the strides they've made in protecting the environment," said Mike Gustafson, Worldwide President of Sterilmed.

About Sterilmed Inc.
Sterilmed Inc. is a Minnesota-based health care cost containment company and the leading reprocessor of single-use medical devices. In 2011 alone, Sterilmed facilities collectively reduced their carbon footprint by more than 1.4 million pounds of C02, diverted nearly 2.5 million pounds of waste from landfills, and helped the health care industry realize millions of dollars in cost savings.