U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa takes an Early Lead and is Recognized for Their Commitment to Climate-Smart, Resilient Operations

Photo By Isaac Savitz | GreenHealth Logo  

OKINAWA, JAPAN

06.24.2025

Story by Isaac Savitz 

U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa

May 2025, U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa (USNHO) was notified that they earned the 2025 Partner for Change award. According to Practice Greenhealth (PGH), the award recognizes USNHO's ongoing commitment to improving its environmental performance and efforts to build sustainability and resilience into its operations and culture. PGH is the organization with which the Defense Health Agency (DHA) has partnered to track suitability metrics, allowing military hospitals and clinics to compare their sustainability performance against that of their civilian counterparts. From the DHA's website: Sustainability and Environmental Programs operate with the understanding that "there is a direct link between healing the individual and healing this planet… we will not have healthy individuals, healthy families, and healthy communities if we do not have clean air, clean water, and healthy soil."
The DHA Sustainability Policy, DHA-AI 4710.01, establishes sustainability goals and environmental compliance targets for military hospitals and clinics and requires the formation of cross-functional sustainability teams to promote a resource-aware stewardship culture. DHA has been implementing this program through a rolling start date initiative that USNHO decided to implement early with the mentality of "why wait."
Ron Stallings, Safety and Occupational Health Manager, Respiratory Protection Program Manager, Environment of Care Co-Chair, Operational Risk Management Assistant, and Sustainability Champion, was the right person to help bring a committee together to start working towards accomplishing and establishing the DHA's sustainability goals and environmental targets. Mr. Stallings recognized the size and scope of the job. He tasked his committee to not only identify areas that could be improved and projects that needed to be accomplished but also recognize things already being applied or strategies from higher DOD initiatives that were already being implemented in the hospital. Features like water bottle fill stations throughout the hospital save thousands of plastic disposable bottles each year. Stallings also said, "Once you start thinking about sustainability, you can come up with ideas for incentivizing the staff to participate, too." He mentioned an idea that would challenge employees to ride a bike to work, promoting a healthy body while simultaneously supporting green initiatives that reduce pollution created by driving cars.
The pharmacy-led initiative involved reducing pharmaceutical waste by leveraging new technology, Q-Anywhere, to prepare medications only when requested by the patient. At USNHO, most outpatient pharmaceutical waste is generated from drugs that are filled but never picked up by the patient. Q-Anywhere is designed to enable patients to communicate electronically with the pharmacy when they have a new prescription that needs to be filled. Since the implementation of Q-Anywhere on 14 March, we have seen a 55% decrease in medications returned to stock. This equals a drug cost savings of approximately $ 1,804. Labor savings of ~ 41.5 hours and supply (vials, labels, paper bag, etc) savings of ~ $82.27. That is 249 medication bottles that did not end up in the trash, which is a huge accomplishment, especially here in Japan, where it is prohibited to recycle any bottles with drug residue. They also helped save what may be the most precious resource time by installing an automated refill prescription kiosk. One benefit of ScriptCenters is that they allow you to pick up your prescription after pharmacies or clinics are closed, providing you with 24/7 access. After-hours prescription pickup is especially helpful if you are unable to visit the pharmacy during regular operating hours. This convenience means you have less congested pharmacy lobbies, increased access to same-day prescription needs, and significantly shorter wait times.
The U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Okinawa (USNMRTCO) supports the Defense Health Agency's U.S. Naval Hospital, Okinawa (USNHO) as the largest OCONUS Navy Medicine medical treatment facility and stands at the ready to respond to contingency operations to support the INDOPACOM region. It is a critical regional asset for direct care delivery, regional referrals, and medical contingency operations. The staff of USNHO understands their vital role as pre-positioned, forward-deployed naval forces within the first island chain, aligned and in support of the joint military commands and operations.
Trey Savitz, Public Affairs Officer
U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan
Comm: 011-81-971-7024
DSN: [phone]
[e-mail]

• Date Taken: 06.24.2025
• Date Posted: 06.25.2025 00:51
• Story ID: 501430
• Location: OKINAWA, JP