Giving Back
As an organization, Ethos is always refining who we are and how we make a difference. Our core values include a focus on taking care of each other, and on being a responsible employer and steward for our planet. These underlying values guide our initiatives in different areas and aspects of the organization. Some of our current initiatives and partnerships are detailed below.
American Veterinary Medical Foundation
Many of our hospitals are enrolled in charitable funds through a program with the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF). This program was created to support veterinarians who provide medical services to the lost, neglected and abused animals that find their way into our hospital. The program also allows our medical teams to care for animals in the community when their owners face extraordinary hardships. Pet owners are encouraged to donate to this fund, and Ethos Veterinary Health adds a percentage of all euthanasia charges to the hospital fund on behalf of the patient that has passed.
Donate to Ethos Discovery
Ethos Discovery is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization devoted to delivering innovations that will improve the outcome for pets and humans afflicted with complex medical problems. Patients of all Ethos hospitals may be eligible to participate in clinical studies if they are diagnosed with a condition we are currently studying. Donations in any amount are appreciated.
Full of Pride
In June, and year-round, we extend our love and support to the LGBTQ+ community. We aspire to create a more diverse and inclusive community within Ethos and our industry.
In support of Pride month, Ethos has committed to making a donation to The Trevor Project. They are the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.
Ethos and Pride VMC
We are excited to announce our 2021 and 2022 Gold Level Partnership with Pride Veterinary Medical Community (PrideVMC). Our collaboration with PrideVMC will help further their mission of creating a better world for the LGBTQ+ veterinary community and allow Ethos to further our commitment to creating a community where everyone feels a sense of belonging, is valued and respected, and can bring their whole self to work. Having developed over the past five decades, the organization became PrideVMC in 1993. It has become an organization that provides resources, a voice, and a community to veterinary professionals of various sexualities, gender presentations, and gender identities. We are proud to have been accepted as a member in this valuable and important organization.
Inclusivity Matters
In addition to celebrating Pride month, Ethos have established an internal LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group (ERG) to identify opportunities and provide ideas for solving specific needs within the community. Our medical insurance plans are designed so employees and their beneficiaries have the ability to receive all medical services available regardless of gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
It Matters to Us That Ethos Is Truly an Equal Opportunity Employer
Ethos is proud to have partnered with the Best Buddies Jobs Program in our continued effort to build opportunities and inclusivity throughout our organization. Best Buddies Job Programs and our recruiting team have partnered to work towards providing meaningful employment for skilled, qualified, and engaged talent with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Meaningful employment allows their members to earn a living wage and independently support themselves, while working at the top of their potential.
Best Buddies is the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Their programs empower the special abilities of people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communication skills, and feel valued by society.
The World Around Us
Reforestation and our partnership with the National Forest Foundation
Ethos is committed to increasing our focus on Green Strategic Initiatives with a goal of reducing our overall carbon footprint. As a step towards guiding and measuring our goals, strategies and impact, we created the Ethos Environmental and Social Responsibility Program. Some of the program’s activities will focus on energy and water use, recycling, and sourcing from environmentally-conscious suppliers and distributors.
Ethos Veterinary Health is supporting reforestation efforts in partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF). In 2020 we sponsored a 10,000-tree planting initiative. Reforestation is a natural way to help combat climate change, restore and protect watersheds, provide habitat for a diversity of wildlife, and improve air quality. At Ethos we view this partnership as a way to improve the environment and recognize our employees and their dedication to the natural world. In 2021 we funded the planting of about 5 new trees per employee as a way to acknowledge the hard work each of our team members do on a daily basis.
Laundry: Reducing Our Impact on the Environment
Laundry is one of the least favorite tasks in veterinary medicine, but it is also one of the most important, as clean, and sanitized bedding is vital for our patients’ health and comfort. The washers and dryers at our hospitals are constantly working to keep up with the demands of our patients to ensure laundry is clean and sanitized. This results in thousands of loads of laundry at our hospitals each year.
While these machines are vital to our hospital operations, they exact a toll on the environment. The average top loading washing machine uses between 38 and 41 gallons per cycle and laundry is responsible for 17% of water consumption in the United States. According to the Journal of Integrative Environmental Studies, U.S. residential laundering emits approximately 142 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and consumes 847 billion gallons of water per year, a vicious cycle which takes a major toll on the health of the environment and planet at large.
Ethos has partnered with Girbau North America, a green certified manufacturer, and ISO 14001 certified organization, to reduce our laundry’s impact on the environment. Their efficient commercial laundry equipment is manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner to conserve the Earth’s natural resources and create less waste, both in manufacture and in use.
There are many key features that make Girbau the perfect choice for our sustainability efforts. Not only are the washing machines energy star qualified, but they also use 57% less water than most top load commercial washers and save approximately 20 gallons of water per load due to their design. These machines use less water, less electricity, and have an added feature in which the water is extracted at very high speeds; this removes more water from the load and decreases drying time by 65% thereby saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
As our older equipment is replaced with newer, more efficient machines, we will dramatically decrease our laundry-related energy and water consumption and lower our carbon footprint. In December 2021, new machines have been installed at three hospitals, four more are scheduled for 2022.
