GREEN FOR LIFE
Our guiding principle in medicine to do no harm applies not only to how we deliver healthcare, but in all our organisational actions. Wherever feasible, we take steps to minimise the environmental impact of our daily operations to maintain a safe and healing environment for patients, staff and the community.
A BEE-UTIFUL BALANCE
Maintaining the green and lush landscape in KTPH and YCH is also about finding ways to co-exist with the birds and insects that form our ecosystem. Instead of exterminating bees that make their home in our greenery, the Landscape Team has taken a more humane approach.
Rather than engaging pest control companies to tackle beehives, they worked on a kaizen project called ‘Give Bees a Chance’. Since September 2020, they have worked with Bee Amazed, a non-profit organisation that has expertise and knowledge in beekeeping, to relocate bees for free.
- Time saved annually: 7 hours
- Cost savings: $168 per session
- Number of bees saved: 30,000 bees in an average hive
SOLAR NOVA 4 PROJECT
Yishun Health’s Green & Sustainability Committee has always supported the Singapore Government’s Green Plan 2030. In FY2020/2021, we stepped up our green commitments by focusing on harnessing renewable energy sources.
One initiative was to increase the harnessed capacity of solar energy to supplement the electricity intake from the grid. With the support of Senior Management, the Facilities Management (FM) department participated in the fourth Solar Nova tender in 2019 that called for the design, supply, installation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The tender involved six agencies, including Yishun Health.
In October 2019, the Housing & Development Board and Economic Development Board awarded the Solar Nova tender to Sunseap to install solar panels to support the running of the premises of multiple government agencies.
For Yishun Health, the solar PV system installed on the roofs of Towers A, B, C and D will provide enough clean energy yearly, and reduce carbon emissions by 252 tonnes a year. This project was completed in April 2021.
A SYMBIOTIC PLANTING SYSTEM
A Solar Hydroponic Plant System project was first conceptualised by the YCH FM department for its rooftop garden. The project uses a solar panel to harness solar energy that works the pump for watering plants. The project enables the use of renewable energy while also saving water for an easy-to-maintain, environmentally friendly, and economical solution.