News

Tamara Private Hospital Acknowledged For Its' Outstanding Community Involvement Project

Oct 18, 2010

Tamara Private Hospital has won the APHA/Baxter Award for Community Involvement for partnering with a local disability support service provider to create an innovative recycling system for the use of Kimguard, a strong and durable polypropylene product which is used to wrap surgical instruments and trays prior to sterilising. The annual award, which recognizes one private hospital nationally each year that has excelled in community involvement, was presented at a ceremony this evening at the Hilton Hotel Sydney.

Tamara Private Hospital noticed the steady annual increase in waste removal costs from the facility and decided it needed to identify ways to reduce waste and minimise costs associated with its removal.  The hospital staff teamed up with Challenge Disability Services, one of the largest disability support services outside metropolitan areas within Australia providing over 600 client services per year. Challenge has Residential and Day programs as well as operating various Disability Enterprises. These enterprises provide sewing, laundry, recycling, manufacturing of timber products and ironing services to the north and northwest area of New South Wales. Importantly, these operations provide skill development and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Challenge Disability Services sought opportunities to expand their sewing portfolio and came up with many ideas for using the Kimguard. Their most popular creation was the Draught Stopper (door snakes). By teaming up with Challenge, a substantial amount of the Kimguard waste is not getting sent to landfill and in turn they are creating sustainable and energy efficient products.

“Tamara Private Hospital has been innovative in their project with Challenge Disability Services and impressed the judges the benefit for the community and the hospital,” said Michael Roff, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Private Hospitals Association.”This innovation is one that other hospitals may replicate in their local areas.”

Challenge Disability Services have continued to find marketing options for additional products such as warming mats for pets, barbeque aprons and seat covers for heavy industry vehicles made from the recycled Kimguard. These high quality items are serviceable and appeal to the wider community. By joining with Challenge Disability Services, Tamara Private Hospital has helped to decrease clinical waste costs by $10,000 in one year and their staff have become conscious of the benefits of recycling.

Other award categories and winners: St Andrew’s Hospital Adelaide for the APHA/Baxter Award for Clinical Excellence for quality of care and patient outcomes. Currumbin Clinic in Queensland and Joondalup Health Campus in Perth were joint winners of the APHA/Baxter Awards for Ambulatory Care. Sydney Adventist Hospital won a Special Recognition Award for Excellence in Service Provision to International Communities for its HealthCare Outreach Program.