Twenty years ago at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Bill Ravanesi - Health Care Without Harm's senior director of health care, green building, and energy - and Jane Matlaw helped kick off what became Health Care Without Harm's global campaign to eliminate mercury in health care. They collected over 1,000 Hg thermometers at what became BIDMC's annual Healthy Work Healthy Home (HWHH) event.
At a recent HWHH celebration, just days before Jane's retirement after 36 years with BIDMC, the institution honored Bill Ravanesi with the "Environmental Champion Award" for his 20 years of passionate service and partnership with BIDMC, while also naming an annual award after Jane.
More on Bill Ravanesi: Bill has been with HCWH since 1997, and has received numerous awards, including the CleanMed Environmental Health Hero Award in recognition of his role in deepening our understanding of the critical links between health and the environment, and the USEPA’s Environmental Merit Award for outstanding efforts in preserving New England’s environment. Bill has a master’s degree in environmental health from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and produced the national traveling exhibition and monograph Breath Taken: The Landscape & Biography of Asbestos.