The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is committed to delivering quality health care to our nation’s veterans.  Recognizing that accomplishing this mission includes a great deal of fiscal accountability, the VA is committed to lessoning environmental risk factors and associated expenses by focusing on new ways to prevent pollution, reduce waste,  and conserve natural and cultural resources.  Following the VA lead, the Boise VAMC is employing processes to affirm that environmental accountability is integrated into day–to-day decision-making and long-term planning.

The Boise VAMC began the implementation of our facility’s Green Environmental Management System (GEMS) April of 2005 by establishing the Boise VA Medical Center GEMS policy.  This policy is the framework to integrate healthy environmental practices into the overall management of the Boise VA Medical Center.  The policy emphasizes the importance of compliance to federal, state, and local regulations; encourages pollution prevention strategies whenever possible; and focuses on continued improvement on environmental issues. 

Through the GEMS Committee, the Boise VA Medical Center strives to reduce waste, reduce quantity of toxic and hazardous chemical and materials acquired, used or disposed of, increase diversion of solid waste by recycling; and use sustainable environmental practices (acquisition of bio-based, environmentally preferable, energy-efficient, water-efficient and recycled-content products).  

Since the implementation of GEMS at our facility, the following changes have been made to reduce our facilities impact on the environment.

Our electrical consumption has been reduced through two facility-wide projects: (1) the installation of direct digital controls on the facility heating and cooling system and (2) the installation of more energy efficient lighting. The use of petroleum fuel has been reduced by utilizing electric carts for on-site construction and maintenance activities.  Waste sorting practices have changed that greatly reduced the amount of waste treated as regulated medical waste by our facility.  New outpatient clinics have been opened to reduce the distance our patients have to drive to obtain medical care.  Our facility provides a covered bike shelter and an adequate supply of bike racks to meet the needs of employees computing to work via bicycle.  The facility supports the Ada County Commuterride program providing incentives for employees to use the program and parking places for eight communterride vans. The quantity of solid waste going to the landfill has been reduced by expanding our recycling program. The materials recycled by our facility currently includes: all batteries, plastics, metals, mixed paper, electronic equipment (computers, cell phones, TVs computer software devices, CDs, floppy disks and flash drives), fluorescent tubes, cardboard, toner cartridges and wood pallets.  Almost 9 tons of x-rays were sent off for silver recovery.  New equipment, utilized by surgery, reduced the quantities of regulated medical waste by removing vacuum containers from the surgery waste stream.   

The GEMS process is seen as a major step in continuing the VA tradition of ensuring environmental compliance and is a component in long range planning, purchasing and operating decisions whenever possible.

For additional information concerning the Boise VAMC GEMS program, please contact Belinda Corbet, GEMS Program Manager at 208-422-1000 X7070 or via email at belinda.corbet@va.gov.