Sturdy Health Earns Platinum Environmental Excellence Award Status
Recognized by Stryker Sustainability Solutions for Commitment to Health Care Sustainability Ahead of Earth Day
From left: Sturdy Health Purchasing Supervisor Dawn Deslauriers and Supply Chain Director Michael Cordi, representatives from Sturdy Memorial Hospital’s Operating Room and Operating Room Materials Management teams, Sturdy Health COO Wayne C. Gietz, and Stryker Sustainability Solutions Representative William Morrow as Sturdy Health received the Platinum Environmental Excellence Award from Stryker Sustainability Solutions on April 21, 2026 (photo credit: Sturdy Health).
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (April 21, 2026) – Sturdy Health today announced it has received the Platinum Environmental Excellence Award from Stryker Sustainability Solutions. The prestigious honor is reserved for a select group of hospitals across New England and recognizes efforts to reduce waste, emissions, and resource consumption.
“Ahead of Earth Day, we are proud to accept this award as a symbol of our commitment to a cleaner, greener environment,” says Wayne C. Gietz, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Sturdy Health. “A healthy planet is crucial to a healthy life, and this program has created an invaluable opportunity for Sturdy to make a long-lasting difference.”
In addition to the environmental impacts of the hospital’s efforts, this initiative has generated tens of thousands of dollars in supply cost savings that can now be redirected across hospital departments to further Sturdy Health’s mission of providing high-quality care for its community.
Stryker Sustainability Solutions’ Environmental Excellence Award celebrates efforts by health care facilities to extend the shelf life of single-use medical devices (SUDs) through the practice of reprocessing. In this process, used SUDs are inspected, function tested, sterilized, packaged, and delivered back into the hands of health care providers, who are then able to safely utilize the device on a new patient. Stryker’s reprocessing efforts have diverted more than 26 million pounds of waste from landfills.
In 2025, Sturdy Health contributed to the diversion of more than 700 pounds of waste from landfills as a result of this initiative. In honor of the hospital’s contributions, Stryker Sustainability Solutions planted 69 trees on Sturdy’s behalf.
About Sturdy Health
Sturdy Health is an independent, nonprofit health system comprised of the 142-bed acute care Sturdy Memorial Hospital, 25 primary and specialty care medical offices, and an Urgent Care Center dedicated to providing a broad range of health care services to the residents of communities in Southeastern Massachusetts and neighboring Rhode Island. Sturdy’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the people in our communities through kindness, compassion, and convenient access to the highest quality care.
In line with its mission to invest in the health and wellness of the community, Sturdy is currently implementing a multi-year master space plan. The system is renovating and adding facilities that will transform the patient and care team member experience and ensure greater access to care. Construction is underway on a $113 million modernization and expansion of the emergency department, which will increase capacity to 38,000 square feet, including 54 patient exam rooms, a dedicated 12-bed behavioral health unit, covered parking, and a new helipad. Learn more at www.sturdyhealth.org.
For media inquiries, contact:
Izzy Nickel, Ball Consulting Group, LLC
Phone: 617-243-9950; Email: izzy@ballcg.com
