St. Tammany Health System’s flagship St. Tammany Parish Hospital has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification for superior energy performance.

On a scale of one to 100, St. Tammany earned a 91, meaning its main hospital campus is 91% more energy efficient than other U.S. hospitals.

According to Sherry Grady, the health system’s AVP of Management and Safety, the Energy Star certification is a direct result of a true team effort at the Covington hospital.

Black Americans are 54% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than White Americans, despite a substantial overall reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality nationwide.

Now, a new study from Tulane University published in Annals of Internal Medicine has found that this racial disparity can be attributed to social factors such as unemployment, low income, and lack of a partner, rather than known factors such as hypertension and obesity.