Network news

For the second time, the NCSH member presents its 'Care Without Carbon' symposium! 

• Register for the free virtual event here!

The NCSH member University Hospitals Sussex is organising the SHARE Conference 2022!

On May 6th at 10–16.30 BST, you can join in to learn more about sustainable healthcare: how to put the theory of sustainability principles into action in healthcare practices. Read more about the topics and keynote speakers here.

Registration for the SHARE Conference is free and open to all. 

• Click to register for the Zoom-link here!

The conference is co-hosted by the University of Brighton School of Sport and Health Sciences, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.

Our member HealthTextiles has been announced as ‘Best Healthcare Uniforms Manufacturer’ in Europe at the prestigious 2021 Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards!

• HealthTextiles
• GHP Magazine

The NCSH member Link Arkitektur has been selected for a new  hospital in Sweden with sustainability in focus. The text below is from LINK Arkitektur:

LINK Arkitektur, Arkitema and Arkitektbolaget have been selected for the design of a new emergency hospital in Växjö. LINK's contribution includes experiences from hospital buildings in both Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The three design studios will develop the task in collaboration with Skanska.

Photo: with permission from LINK Arkitektur and Arkitema

From the competition jury:

“The team has shown great responsiveness and has used the short task time to develop the proposal in a positive direction. The team has also shown a strong commitment to developing buildings with a low climate footprint and low energy consumption. Of the three proposals, this proposal shows the greatest elasticity in relation to expanding the hospital in the future. ”

Mette Dan-Weibel, Director Healthcare at LINK Arkitektur, is pleased:

“I am very pleased that we have been selected for the design of the emergency hospital in Växjö. The team has created a well-functioning, flexible project that meets the requirements of sustainability and cost-effectiveness as well as puts the patient at the center throughout the design”, she says.

A hospital that respects the surroundings

In the project, great emphasis has been placed on adapting the new building to the surrounding landscape and ensuring that the building respects the area's existing narrative. Therefore, the inspiration comes from the local building tradition, where large barns, old industrial buildings and the city's old wooden houses meet modern design.

The location next to a river gives the experience of a promenade that invites locals into the area and helps to erase the feeling of a traditional closed hospital. There has been a focus on creating a building that is not developed at the expense of nature and biodiversity. On the contrary, attempts have been made to draw nature into the building by creating daylight and implementing windows and balconies in the design that contribute to the health and healing of the individual patient.

A logistically efficient and patient-safe hospital

The hospital is designed logistically efficiently. With short walking distances, a good overview for the staff and separate workflows provide an efficient and patient-safe hospital. The staff have efficient traffic routes in their daily work and intuitive wayfinding means that patients do not get lost in the hospital corridors.

A hospital for the future

The entire project has high ambitions for sustainability in both the short and long term. In the short term, the focus has been on reducing energy consumption and climate impact from materials. In the longer term, a robust and rational structure has been designed that can be expanded with minimal impact on the hospital's operations.

More info:

• Link arkitektur >>
• Jury statement (pdf in Swedish with an overview on the total project) >>

Two weeks ago, our member Floow2 officially launched the Intrakoop Sharing Platform for healthcare in the Netherlands. Read about the solution below!

Procurement cooperative launches sharing platform for sustainable healthcare in the Netherlands.

20-05-2021 FLOOW2

Using an online sharing platform, Dutch healthcare organizations can now sell, rent, exchange, swap of give away goods and services they are (temporarily) not using. This ‘marketplace’ is an easy and practical way to save costs and contributes to making healthcare more sustainable.

The sharing platform is initiated by Intrakoop, the leading procurement cooperative for healthcare in the Netherlands, in collaboration with FLOOW2. The Intrakoop Sharing Platform is not only meant for offering idle capacity or facilities; healthcare organizations can also use it to advertise a need for certain products or services. Making excess stock or items from one organization available for others stimulates reuse, reduces waste, and saves healthcare costs.

The sharing platform is meant for the 550 Intrakoop members: hospitals and organizations for elderly, disability, mental or home care. Besides excess stock, the platform can be used to share medical aids, furniture, facilities, knowledge of staff and other forms of capacity that may be of interest to other organizations. Users can decide themselves what form of transaction they want for their items: to sell or rent out, or to give away for free. From adding demand and supply to payments and logistic handling of transactions: everything is provided for in a safe manner by the platform.

Circular and sustainable healthcare
Intrakoop and FLOOW2 had been discussing the possibilities of a ‘digital storage room’ for healthcare for a while. Initially in relation to sustainable healthcare, but the corona pandemic put things in a different perspective. The need for transparency of available goods and services and the necessity to collaborate catalyzed their plans. By facilitating easy access and efficient matchmaking for products, services, and facilities Intrakoop and FLOOW2 promote a more sustainable practice in healthcare. Unnecessary procurement can be avoided, and circularity is promoted.

The digital storage room for Dutch healthcare organizations
The past weeks a group of early adopters has successfully experimented with the platform. Following their positive feedback and experiences, Intrakoop has provided all their members with an account and launched the platform nationwide on May 18th. Logistic handling of transactions is provided by Schotpoort Connect, specialized in healthcare logistics and with a strong focus on sustainable logistics.

About Intrakoop
Intrakoop is the leading procurement cooperative for healthcare organizations in the Netherlands. Their 550 members represent hospitals and care organizations for elderly, disability, mental and home care. They help their members optimize procurement processes and make healthcare more affordable. Promoting sustainability is one of their focus areas.

About FLOOW2
FLOOW2 developed the Intrakoop sharing marketplace. The company (est. 2012) is global leader in developing marketplaces for businesses and organizations. They strongly believe that transparency and collaboration are drivers for a circular economy. FLOOW2 has developed similar platforms for pharmacists to exchange medication (PharmaSwap.com), for healthcare in other countries (e.g. Canada) and other sectors (e.g. construction and retail).

LINKS TO WEBSITES:
Intrakoop Sharing Platform: deelplatform.intrakoop.nl
Intrakoop: www.intrakoop.nl

This article is written by or on behalf of a member of the network and any statements, claims and opinions are theirs and not necessarily NCSH's

Our member Nordshield earlier this week announced a partnership with SHL Healthcare. Read an excerpt from the article below. 

SHL Healthcare and NordShield® enter into partnership to develop and commercialize unique medical textiles with natural based antimicrobial protection.

Finnish based NordShield® offers a unique and disruptive antimicrobial technology that is safe for users and the environment. Swedish based SHL Healthcare is one of the world’s leading contract manufacturers and suppliers of MedTech solutions for home, hospital and long-term care use. Together, NordShield® and SHL Healthcare will develop the world’s first commercially produced and widely available medical textiles with natural based antimicrobial technology.

NordShield® Pathogen Barrier is a durable, biodegradable and sustainably produced CE-marked solution for the prevention of diseases, classified as class I medical device. Contrary to current market standards, it is free of heavy metals, based on renewable substances and safe for the environment. The NordShield® Pathogen Barrier creates an ultra-thin layer on the fiber, forming an invisible and yet physical armor on it, which inactivates bacteria and viruses. The antimicrobial efficacy has been proven to last fully intact for a minimum of 30 washes.  

SHL Healthcare textiles are high quality fiber-based products used in the medical environment either for the treatment of an injury or for the provision of an appropriate conditions in the clinical treatment of a wound or an illness.

The newly developed end products are expected to be available on the market during 2021.

Read full article here

This article is written by or on behalf of a member of the network and any statements, claims and opinions are theirs and not necessarily NCSH's.

Our member AMDR recently shared some interesting articles and studies with us, concerning reprocessing, the Medical Device Industry, and Health Care Pollution. Read the full articles by following the links below. 

 A flurry of published studies point to the need for hospitals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and find that the use of remanufactured medical devices may be a "low hanging fruit" solution.

Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Assessment to Analyze Environmental Impacts of the Medical Remanufacturing of Electrophysiology Catheters

Most importantly, a new article published in the journal, Sustainability, addresses and immediate and timely solution. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute in German conducted the most comprehensive Life Cycle Analysis conducted to date comparing a reprocessed devices to its original or “virgin” counterpart. In this case, electrophysiology catheters were studied and found that the reprocessed device to be superior in 13 of 16 categories - including an over 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/2/898

Two studies published recently in Health Affairs underscore the problem, with new data showing the magnitude of wasteful practices at hospitals, particularly looking at greenhouse gas emissions.

Transforming The Medical Device Industry: Road Map To A Circular Economy

The analysis (A. MacNeill, H. Hopf, et. al.) takes perhaps the deepest dive ever looking at what drives the problem and finds that supply chain, in particularly medical devices, cause a surprising high level of the problem. The article calls for medical device makers to transform to a circular economy to help address wasteful and unsustainable healthcare supply chain practices. Link here: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01118

Health Care Pollution And Public Health Damage In The United States: An Update

The second study (M. Eckelman, J. Sherman, et. al.) finds that US hospitals, through greenhouse gas emissions, already cause a loss of over 388,000 "disability-adjusted life years." There's never been better evidence confirming the hows and whys hospitals make us sick. Link here: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01247

This article is written by or on behalf of a member of the network and any statements, claims and opinions are theirs and not necessarily NCSH's.

In December, our member NordShield published a new article about the technology behind  their product.

Below you can read excerpts from the text. Full article can be found here >>

The disruptive NordShield® technology can offer masses durable antiviral and antibacterial protection in everyday life, while being ecological and the antimicrobial effect lasting min. 30 washes.

To meet the growing demand for protection against viruses and bacteria, Finnish based innovator in biotechnology, NordShield®, has accelerated the market entry with its cutting-edge antimicrobial technology for consumer fibers. NordShield® BioLayr provides textiles such as garments, shoes and accessories like gloves, a durable antimicrobial layer. Contrary to any other scalable solution on the market, it is free of heavy metals and the unique technology keeps its antimicrobial efficacy for a minimum of 30 washes, more than the average lifetime of a garment. By choosing this biodegradable solution, the chemical load on the environment can be significantly decreased.

"Access to antiviral and antibacterial protection for everyone is key to stop pandemics like Covid-19 from spreading, or new ones forming. By using our technology, brands can offer their customers the next level added value through a physical and yet invisible armour of antimicrobiality, while serving current mega trends of naturality and sustainability.”
Kristoffer Ekman, CEO of NordShield®

As a result of more than a decade of research and development, NordShield® has in 2020 commercialised its patented and scalable antimicrobial technology, which is unparalleled, being both powerful and natural-based. It is also non-leaching and safe for its users and the environment. Most importantly, it is sustainably produced and free of heavy metals, an increasing threat to our planet and life on it.

Current standard antimicrobial treatments are based on heavy metals such as silver and copper, which are provenly a threat to life and environment by leaching from products into nature, and even into humans through skin exposure. Through its scalability, NordShield® has created a technology that makes ecological antimicrobial protection for the masses possible for the first time.

The technology can also be applied for sustainable and high-efficacy anti-mold protection for textiles during transportation and warehousing, a global issue that costs the textile industry billions annually in lost revenues and causes thousands of tons in avoidable waste. Utilizing NordShield® eliminates the need for fossil based poly bags and environmentally questionable silica bags, that are the industry standard to tackle this issue alongside heavy metal based solutions.

Furthermore, NordShield® technology acts as a base to a wider range of applications, such as the NordShield® Brilliant product family for antimicrobial protection for face masks, hands, feet, shoes and surfaces. NordShield® Pathogen Barrier, a CE-marked solution classified as a medical device, offers antimicrobial protection for the medical field.

”It is only the lack of alternatives so far, paired with a strong need for antimicrobial solutions, that has justified heavy metal based treatments to be used. Countries like Germany and Sweden as forerunners are already working on prohibiting the usage of these, as the negative consequences for people and environment are dramatic. To enable the best tomorrow for people and our planet, we need to make active choices for sustainable solutions.”
Greta Waissi, Head of Regulatory Affairs at NordShield® with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Ecotoxicology

www.nordshield.com 

This article is written by or on behalf of a member of the network and any statements, claims and opinions are theirs and not necessarily NCSH's.

Our member Megawatt Solutions Nordic held a webinar on 4 December 2020, focusing on renewable energy in large real estate.

During the webinar, competent speakers talked about technologies behind renewable energy solutions, what geothermal energy and heat pump technology could mean for large real estate, and much more. With almost 55% of the energy used in Sweden coming from renewable sources (in 2018), Sweden is one of the best countries in this field in EU. There is still some work to do though, as the Swedish government set the goal of being fossil free by 2045 with 100% renewable energy. See the full webinar below!

Speakers in this webinar:

Cynthia Jonströmer, CEO, BrainHeart Energy

Professor Björn Palm, Head of Division, Energy Technology Department, KTH 

Inga Pichler, CEO, Megawatt Solutions Nordic  

Stefan Öhman, Sustainability Manager, Sparbanken Rekarne 

This article is written by or on behalf of a member of the network and any statements, claims and opinions are theirs and not necessarily NCSH's.

Last week, Newsweek International published an interview they did with our member Nordshield!

Nordic Biotech Group - Nature as Architect Against Pandemic

A paragraph from the article: 

In Finland, a country known for its advanced research and development (R&D), life sciences, and biotechnology ecosystems, economic growth is set to rebound to 3% in 2021, after a projected 5% contraction in 2020. New growth will be driven by companies like Nordic BioTech Group, the creator of a unique and innovative, natural antimicrobial solution called NordShield, a multi-purpose product designed to prevent the spread of disease, viruses, bacteria, and infection.

This technology offers a game-changing value proposition for governments, companies, and individuals seeking a safer and cleaner existence. Nordic BioTech Group was founded in 2016 after more than a decade of intensive R&D under the guidance of polymer chemist Kari Holopainen. Its CEO, Kristoffer Ekman, has spent more than 15 years establishing and overseeing commercialization and business deveopment strategies for companies ranging from startups to some of the world's best-known multinationals, including Accenture Nordic, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) and Infosys. For Ekman, the pitch is simple "Our technology is sustainably produced from renewable ingredients, safe for the environment, free of heavy metals such as silver, and as our product is produced from by-products ot the forest industry, we have nearly limitless access to the ingredients for Nordshield. 

Read the full article in Newsweek here

 This article is written by or on behalf of a member of the network and any statements, claims and opinions are theirs and not necessarily NCSH's.