MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
June 11, 2012
London, Ontario - For over four decades London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London have pursued energy conservation and sustainability with their efforts resulting in local, provincial and national awards.
To do even more to sustain a healthy environment, staff members at these organizations are taking on a new environmental challenge: planting trees. “Staff members are supporting Reforest London and the City of London’s Million Tree Challenge by purchasing trees for their own homes or to donate to neighborhoods needing more tree cover,” says Dave Crockett, integrated vice-president of facilities management for both organizations. The goal is to have staff members plant 1,000 trees in 2012.
This personal initiative by staff is in addition to the trees being planted at the hospital sites. Since the Million Tree Challenge started in 2011, over 500 trees have been planted at LHSC and St. Joseph’s, with the goal to plant 1,000 new, large caliper trees by 2014.
As well, 6,000 trees will be planted in the Celebration Forest by Westminster Ponds behind Parkwood Hospital through the generosity of community donors. Negotiations are also underway to delineate this environmentally significant area with an additional 2,000 trees.
Crockett, who believes each person can make a difference to the environment by doing a few things that collectively have a huge impact, is walking the talk having personally planted 3,200 trees in his lifetime. "Trees provide a natural infrastructure canopy with both economic and health benefits,” he says. “They clean the air, produce oxygen, help to manage rain water, provide sun protection, reduce heating and cooling costs, and provide a healthy environment for work and play.”
Interview and photo opportunities are available at Parkwood Hospital when employees pick up their trees:
When: Monday, June 11 from 3 pm to 4 pm
Where: Parkwood Hospital, 801 Commissioners Road East - parking lot north of main entrance
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For media inquiries contact:
Marek Kubow Communications Consultant London Health Sciences Centre Corporate Communications & Public Relations 519-685-8500 ext. 75155 pager 519-649-9238 |
Anne Kay Communications Consultant Communication and Public Affairs 519-685-4292, ext. 42470 pager 519-649-9238 |
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been in the forefront of medicine in Canada for 137 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, South Street Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, a joint research initiative with St. Joseph’s Health Care London. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 50 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
About St. Joseph’s Health Care London
St. Joseph’s Health Care London is a leading patient care, teaching and research centre in Canada with a distinguished legacy of service to London, Southwestern Ontario and the veterans of Canada, dating back more than 130 years. St. Joseph’s five key role areas include acute/ambulatory care, complex care and veterans care, long-term care, rehabilitation and specialized geriatrics and specialized mental health care. Facilities and services including St. Joseph’s Hospital, Parkwood Hospital, Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care and Regional Mental Health Care London and St. Thomas are part of the St. Joseph’s family. Our research arm, the Lawson Health Research Institute, continues to direct its research to the development of new knowledge that is continually being applied directly to patient care. St. Joseph’s is affiliated with Western University. For more information visit www.sjhc.london.on.ca
