Aspirus Health presents registered nurse Billie Schilling with Clinical Climate Champion award

Billie Schilling, RN, is the first-ever recipient of Aspirus Health’s Clinical Climate Champion award. Schilling is a registered nurse providing care as part of the operating room team at Aspirus Medford Hospital.

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

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

Schilling earned this honor for pinpointing and spearheading several sustainable practice changes within Aspirus Medford’s operating room (OR), including:

• Establishing a partnership to recycle flexible plastics into park benches made from recycled materials.
• Replacing one-time-use patient foam positioners with reusable gel positioners.
• Upcycling towels into cleaning rags rather than sending them to the landfill.
• Creating signage for recycling bins and providing education within the OR suite about recycling hard plastic waste.
• Repurposing batteries that are used once and otherwise landfilled.

In honor of Schilling’s remarkable efforts, five trees are being planted in the Superior National Forest in her name.

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.

Click here to read more about Billie Schilling and her commitment to sustainability.