Ventura, CA - The California Central Coast Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council has honored Community Memorial Health System with its 2011 Green Healthcare Award.

CMHS was cited for its state-of-the-art and environmentally-friendly Vineyard Center for Family Health office in Oxnard which opened in November 2010. Located at 2361 East Vineyard Ave., the office has previously earned LEED Gold in the Healthcare category – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – certification from the United States Green Building Council.

To earn LEED certification, CMHS designed and built the Vineyard CFH using diverse green strategies in key areas of human and environmental health, including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

In honoring CMHS, the California Central Coast Chapter of the USGBC commended its Vineyard CFH office specifically for:

 Saving energy by 21 percent;
 Saving 12,500 gallons of water per year;
 Using local building materials that support the local economy and reduce the amount of embodied energy for transportation;
 Selecting a location for the office to minimize transportation impacts on patients.

At over 10,000 square feet, the Vineyard site also is nearly twice the size of the CFH Citrus Grove office it replaced, with more work stations and larger waiting rooms. And unlike its previous location, the Vineyard office offers primary care and special care services in separate areas of the building. Specialty areas include: internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatric and women’s health, cardiology, psychiatry and rheumatology.

Community Memorial Health System is a not-for-profit health system, which is comprised of Community Memorial Hospital, Ojai Valley Community Hospital, and ten family-practice health centers entitled Centers for Family Health. The health system is located in Ventura County, California.