Stevens Hospital: Edmonds, WA

Initiative: New Process for the Destruction of Medical Waste and Confidential Documents

Goal: To reduce costs of biohazard waste destruction and eliminate expense related to confidential document destruction.

Process: A new piece of equipment was installed in one of the ambulance bays in August. It is a Red Bag Solutions machine that sterilizes, processes and destroys a large portion of the biohazard waste and all of the confidential document previously sent off campus for destruction and disposal.

Outcome: Biohazard waste expenses have been reduce by approximately 62% and confidential document expenses have been eliminated. Even with the purchase of the Red Bag Solutions machine, savings for 2006 will hit or exceed $30,000.