- Pasay City, Metro Manila
Another prime mover in mercury phase-out, San Juan de Dios Educational Foundation Inc Hospital’s move is guided by its core value on social commitment.
Initiated by the top management of the hospital and further intensified by the symposium conducted by Health Care Without Harm, the hospital gradually replaced mercury-containing devices with digital, analog type, and alcohol based from 2006 to 2007.
Although the move was faced with funding problems, negative response from patients, and issues on disposal of mercury devices, the cost-effectiveness of mercury devices as against the cost of spill clean-up became the major justification.
AO 21 was welcomed by the management as an avenue to improve on the compliance to ISO 14007 and OHSAS 18001.
The hospital is currently involved in waste segregation, recycling and composting, and moving away from harmful chemicals towards safer alternatives. Other environmental health initiatives lined-up within the next years are 100% sustenance of Waste Management Control system from collection, segregation, monitoring and disposal, including compliance to all relevant and appropriate legal requirements and full implementation of water, land, and air pollution control program on its day-to-day activities with specific regard to 100% mercury-free devices by 2010, 100% disposal of fire extinguishers using hydro chloro-floro carbon and replacement with zero ozone depleting substance by 2014, and 100% phase-out on the use of plastic bags, styrofoam, etc., and substitution with environmentally-friendly wrappers and containers that are recyclable and cost-effective by 2010 to 2011.