Aspirus Health presents Melody Dearth with Climate Champion award

Aspirus Health recently presented Melody Dearth, Director of Facilities and Support Services at Aspirus Riverview Hospital & Clinics, with a Climate Champion award. In honor of Dearth’s remarkable sustainability efforts, five trees are being planted in the Superior National Forest in her name.

Presented by the committee that oversees system-wide sustainability efforts at Aspirus Health, the award recognizes employees who identify and implement sustainable practices, and demonstrate leadership and innovation through:

• Reducing waste (material, energy, water, carbon equivalents and more).
• Improving the patient experience and employee safety.
• Supporting operational performance.

Dearth earned the Climate Champion honor for her overall leadership of Aspirus Riverview’s Green Team, a team of employees from across Aspirus Riverview dedicated to developing and executing sustainability projects at the local level.

Sustainability initiatives Aspirus Riverview’s Green Team implemented include:

• Reusable sharps containers.
• Battery recycling.
• Donating linens and products that are no longer in use rather than sending them to the landfill.
• Air-filter management program.
• Sustainable landscaping.
• Community garden plots.

Aspirus Health is committed to aggressive sustainability goals for the health of the communities it serves. Goals for the Aspirus system hospitals include reducing carbon emissions by 80% and reducing energy costs by 50%, both by 2030.