DOHA: Aspetar - Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, passed the audit for ISO 14001 certification on April 15, exactly three years after it started operations.
SGS auditors confirmed that Aspetar has effectively implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) that qualifies it for ISO14001 certification, without compromising patient care.
As the first orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital in the region, Aspetar has grown in the last three years, securing accreditation from F-Marc as a FIFA Medical Center of Excellence and certification from HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) for effective control of food safety.
To achieve accreditation for ISO14001, Aspetar had set up a comprehensive EMS and created an environmental policy to minimise the hospital's environmental footprint.
"International recognition in environmental and waste management is important to Aspetar as it shows we are conducting our business with an environmental awareness which meets best practice at the international level," said Ibrahim Al Darwish, Director, Facilities and Support Services at Aspetar.
The environmental policy of Aspetar provides a model for streamlining environmental management and guidelines to ensure environmental issues are taken into consideration, and these guidelines have been structured using the core set of standards advocated by ISO.
The accreditation process required SGS to spend a day at Aspetar reviewing the hospital's environmental and waste management processes and policies.
"Large organisations have to recognise their responsibilities to the environment. Aspetar, as a centre of excellence, is committed to not only excelling in medical and care service delivery but also implementing environmental and waste management systems which, like our services, are second to none in our industry," explained Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari, Chief Executive Officer of Aspetar.
© The Peninsula 2010
