Latest update February 14th, 2025 8:22 AM
$300M facility installed to manage GPHC waste
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is now equipped to sterilize
US$1.5M Hydroclave Sterilization facility
300 kilogrammes of infectious waste daily – waste that would have otherwise been harmful to both human health and the environment.
This is according to the hospital’s Safety Health Officer, Dylon Rachpaul. The hospital’s US$1.5M Hydroclave Sterilization facility became operational last Thursday, and is currently limited to processing infectious waste produced by GPHC.
Other health facilities are expected to utilise this service within the next three months, since the GPHC wants to ensure the machine functions effectively, thus enabling management to ascertain its operational costs.
Rachpaul noted that this project was initiated in 2008, with the World Bank providing US$1 million for the Hydroclave Sterilization System. The Hydroclave is essentially a double-walled cylindrical vessel, horizontally mounted with two top loading doors and a smaller unloading one at the bottom.
“After the infectious waste is sterilized in the cylindrical vessel it is placed on the conveyor and transported to the shredder where the materials are shredded and packed to be dumped at the landfill site…GHPC is currently building a conveyor to lead the shredded materials to the compactor,” Rachpaul stated.
He noted that funding provided by the World Bank was also used to purchase a waste collection truck to uplift infectious waste from other health facilities.
Rachpaul emphasized that government also funded a substantial part of the project.
To accommodate the installation of the machine, Government had to construct a 50 ft x 20 ft shed; an air-conditioned 20ft x 12ft waste holding facility; electrical works; a gantry to run a steam pipe; and a hot water system, to the tune of $25M. Nonetheless, additional costs were also incurred.
The waste collection truck
Though, not its primary purpose, the facility would also temporarily store infectious waste.
“We have to pick-up the waste from hospitals with the truck. It is then transported to GPHC for processing…However, in case we bring it here and we are not using the vessels, the waste would be stored in the air-conditioned waste holding area which keeps the scent down,” Rachpaul explained.
The automated facility is operated by a trained technician who is assisted by two sanitation staff. According to the manual and Hydroclave Canada’s technician, the machine must be maintained weekly, Rachpaul stated.
He added: “In the office we have a computerised management system which generates preventative maintenance for the Hydroclave system.”
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