Quezon City, Philippines -- Global Green and Healthy Hospitals (GGHH) member Philippine Heart Center, in partnership with Health Care Without Harm-Asia (HCWH-Asia), recently welcomed representatives from various hospitals from around Asia to showcase their best eco-friendly practices.

GGHH Coordinator Faye Ferrer welcomes TIMA officials.

Led by their Engineering and Waste Management Teams, PHC staff toured around a hundred participants of the 2016 Tzu Chi International Medical Association’s Manila Conference around PHC’s solar power panels, materials recovery facilities (MRF), and waste water recycling plant.  

Visitors were shown around PHC's rooftop solar panels.

In 2014, GGHH published a case study by the PHC on its in-house sewerage treatment plant (STP), which disinfects and recycles waste water that is then used to irrigate hospital grounds and water hospital gardens. 

Engr. Reginald Vestidas explains the sewerage treatment process. 

Now, PHC continues to promote more sustainable practices not only in waste management but also in promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency. Recently, through the support of state-owned Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC), 100-kW solar panels were installed at the hospital’s Medical Arts Building to reduce the PHC’s power consumption by 30,000-kWh per month. 

The hospital’s management team has also implemented projects and policies to ensure the efficient use of energy, such as the replacement of equipment with more energy-efficient ones, regulating energy consumption in the hospital, and continuously educating hospital staff on cost-effective use of electricity.

PHC staff and hospital tour participants

Joining the hospital tour were HCWH-Asia Director Ramon San Pascual, GGHH Coordinator Faye Ferrer, and Tzu Chi International Medical Association’s CEO Dr. Chin-Lon Lin.

"We laud the Philippine Heart Center for being an exemplary model of environmental sustainability not only to local hospitals but to other GGHH members around the world," expressed HCWH-Asia Director Ramon San Pascual. "As one of the leading hospitals in the country, PHC is setting the standards on how the health sector in the country should take the lead in protecting public health through environmentally sound practices, starting within their own hospital facilities."

Hospital exchanges and tours is one of the initiatives GGHH in Asia facilitates to allow members to learn from each other’s sustainable programs. To know more about how to become a GGHH member, visit the Global Green and Healthy Hospitals website.