Georgia McNamaraIntern Insights is a mini-series that spotlights the interns participating in the Sustainability Internship Program (SIP) and their day-to-day activities and accomplishments. The Office of Sustainability partners with the Student Sustainability Council and sustainability-related units from across the University to provide exciting and meaningful undergraduate internship opportunities for UK students. Interns work with a mentor to support a specific sustainability-related unit on campus, develop an independent project, and participate in a professional development series with a full cohort of interns. We are excited to share the perspective of Georgia McNamara, our UK HealthCare intern, as we explore the role sustainability plays in the student experience at the University of Kentucky.
My name is Georgia McNamara, and I am UK HealthCare’s Sustainability Intern for the 2024-2025 year!
UK HealthCare has recently been trying to emphasize the importance of sustainability in the healthcare field. They have worked on various projects over the past few years, including creating a clinical sustainability team and working with the food and nutrition service to reduce the amount of food waste in Albert B. Chandler Hospital. They have also partnered with Meals on Wings, which is a nonprofit that takes extra food from hospital cafeterias and creates meals for adults and seniors who are unable to cook or go to the grocery store.
One of the biggest projects that UK HealthCare has undertaken in the past couple of years is an ongoing collaboration with Stryker. Stryker Sustainable Solutions is a medical technology company that is currently creating multiple sustainability solutions for UK HealthCare. One of the sustainability-related projects they are working on is collecting certain types of medical equipment that can then be sanitized and reused. This has been beneficial in diverting waste from the landfill.
Stryker also partners with Veritree to replant trees and kelp forests in areas that have lost vegetation due to climate change and deforestation. This initiative helps to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So far, they have planted over 7,350 verified trees all over the world with the help of Veritree.
This year UK HealthCare is looking to increase sustainability efforts and expand the current sustainability subcommittees. UK HealthCare will be working with these subcommittees to create monthly check-in meetings to evaluate which initiatives are being implemented and discuss how to grow the program even more. A monthly newsletter is also in development that will be posted on The Loop, which is a hospital-wide website that contains all the information and happenings within UK HealthCare. The newsletter will also be sent to willing participants who are interested in staying informed on UK HealthCare sustainability initiatives.
As an SIP Intern I will be creating my own independent project during my internship. I currently have multiple ideas for said project. One potential option is reducing the size of the Red Bag Bins in the Operating Room (OR). This is a project that other hospitals have taken up and I believe that it is something that will benefit UK HealthCare by reducing waste. Red Bag Bins are meant for waste that has been contaminated with blood. However, due to the large size of the bins, a lot of uncontaminated waste ends up in the bags and gets thrown away. This contributes to a high amount of waste produced by the OR. By reducing the size of the bins, it will limit the amount of uncontaminated waste that ends up in the landfill.
Another project I am excited about could be working with a UK HealthCare subcommittee to expand and develop new greenspaces around the hospital and medical campus. This is important because greenspaces have been shown to have a positive impact on patient’s physical health and employee’s mental health.
UK HealthCare’s commitment to sustainability has significantly grown and expanded over the last couple of years. New plans and projects are continually created in order to expand sustainability throughout UK HealthCare. I am looking forward to being a part of these new initiatives!
