You have less than one week to nominate a STAR colleague or team for the next round of our STAR Awards. Recently, we wrapped our STAR Awards for the first quarter of 2021. We saw so many brilliant examples of our colleagues going above and beyond in their work.
One category that demonstrates Monash Health’s commitment to environmental sustainability is the Managing Wisely category. This category focuses on an individual, group or team who actively look for ways to minimise waste and manage resources wisely.
This may include developing or implementing a sustainable initiative that reduces waste and/or cost. It could also include someone who improves resource management to provide value back to the health service.
Meet Susanne Strum – a past Managing Wisely STAR
Susanne Sturm is a Senior Pharmacist who initiated and led a successful project that aimed to improve sustainability within our Pharmacy department. She identified an opportunity to remove plastic bags from our Pharmacy operations, an initiative that was duplicated across all sites.
Susanne was proactive in gaining the support of the whole Pharmacy team, as well as involving patients and families in the project. The success of the project has led to greater financial efficiency and stronger environmental sustainability for the department. Susanne’s initiative and drive not only resulted in a successful, sustainable project but has opened doors to explore even more innovative ideas in the future.
This was one of the sustainability achievements reported in our annual report; as pharmacy transitioned away from using single-use plastic bags to reusable or paper bags, they have eliminated close to 5000 plastic bags in one month at Monash Medical Centre.
Do you know someone who has managed resources wisely in the past few months? Head to the STAR Portal and nominate them today. You can find more information on the STAR Program on the Monash Health COVID-19 webiste.
Approved by Karen Lowe