Premier, Inc. Wins 12th Straight Practice Greenhealth Champion for Change Award

Only Group Purchasing Organization to be Recognized 12 Consecutive Years for Environmental Excellence


CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 6, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) has been recognized by Practice Greenhealth, a leading healthcare community driving environmental stewardship and best practices, for achieving environmental excellence.

Premier is the only group purchasing organization to win the Champion for Change Award for 12 consecutive years for improving its green practices, as well as helping its members and partners green their organizations.

"Together, we're helping our members offer safer healthcare services to their communities, while improving our environmental footprint as an alliance," said Gina Pugliese, RN, MS, vice president of the Premier Safety Institute®. "We're honored to again be recognized for our efforts to green the environment Premier and our members work in, as well as the services we offer."

Premier received the national award for its GreenHealthy® environmental leadership program, in collaboration with alliance member hospitals and health systems to promote sustainable healthcare practices. For example, over the past year Premier:

  • Recycled more than 100,000 pounds of paper and nearly four tons of computers and electronic equipment.
  • Employees received reusable travel mugs for the office to reduce the use of paper cups and lids.
  • Offered more than 200 contracts with environmentally preferable products and services, including:
    • Intravenous delivery products without polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEPH).
    • Patient bed mattresses manufactured without halogenated flame retardants.
    • Exam gloves with 50 percent less packaging and 80 percent post-consumer recycled materials.

More than 100 Premier member hospitals and health systems also won awards from Practice Greenhealth for environmental excellence.

Premier's website on healthcare energy reduction and efficiency offers information on how to build and sustain a green healthcare environment by reducing carbon footprints, becoming energy efficient and increasing the use of renewable energy sources.

In addition, Premier is a supporting partner for the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a national campaign to improve sustainability in the healthcare sector. Initiative goals include energy reduction, along with safer chemicals, environmentally preferable purchasing and waste reduction.

Publicly accessible resources on patient, worker and green issues in healthcare are available on the Premier Safety Institute website.

About Practice Greenhealth

Practice Greenhealth is the nation's leading healthcare community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care through tools, best practices and knowledge. To learn more about Practice Greenhealth visit www.practicegreenhealth.org.

About Premier, Inc.

Premier, Inc. (Nasdaq:PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,000 U.S. hospitals and 110,000 other providers to transform healthcare.With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier's news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Foursquare and Premier's blog for more information about the company.

CONTACT: Alven Weil, Premier, Inc.; Alven_Weil@PremierInc.com, 704.816.5797