Cayman hospital makes conservation count
TERTIARY-CARE HOSPITAL Health City Cayman Islands, up to 2017, had saved more than 15 million gallons of water, 6.5 million kilowatts of electricity, almost 400,000 gallons of diesel, and over 9.5 million pounds of carbon.
“Additionally, the facility has diverted more than 218,000 pounds of medical waste from the George Town Landfill. That is 84 per cent of the total medical waste generated by the facility,” the hospital, which opened its doors in 2014, said in a news release.
To date, its waste-reduction and landfilldiversion programmes have saved almost 80,000 pounds of recycling materials, with 64 per cent of total waste being diverted from the landfill. These efforts include a recycling programme for cardboard, glass and aluminum, as well as onsite medical waste treatment.
“Due to onsite sewage treatment, more than 6.3 million gallons of effluent have been diverted from ground disposal since the hospital opened,” the release said.
The water savings have resulted from its water harvesting and conservation initiative, which reuses graywater for non-potable and irrigation purposes. The electricity, carbon and diesel savings are the products of the facility’s building management system and HVAC system diversification.
“Health City Cayman Islands has been committed from inception to be a conservation-minded development, from construction through operations,” noted Clinical Director Dr Binoy Chattuparambil.
“The building infrastructure and many building systems were built into the project to support the conservation theme. These programmes and initiatives have made positive impacts on the community, environment and hospital economics,” he added.
WASTE-REDUCTION PROGRAMME YIELDS SAVINGS
In 2017 alone, the hospital’s conservation programmes saved 4.3 million gallons of water, 1.4 million kilowatts of electricity, almost 100,000 gallons of diesel, and 2.4 million pounds of carbon.
As well as implementing efficient processes within the facility, the gardens around Health City were designed to include indigenous trees, which protect the ecosystem and maintain local species of flora and fauna.
Director of Business Development Shomari Scott said: “Over the past year, Health City has continued to implement our core values of innovation and accountability when it comes to the environment. We are all proud to look after and preserve the health of our community, as well as our local environment, and we are pleased with the 2017 results. We look forward to continuing these efforts every year.”
HEALTH CITY
Health City, only the second hospital in the Caribbean to receive the Joint Commission International’s hospital accredi-tation, offers a range of services. They include adult and paediatric cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiac electrophysiology, medical oncology, orthopedics, sports medicine, paediatric endo-crinology, gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery, neurology, interventional neurology and neuro-diagnostics, among others.