NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 3 – Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital has urged other health facilities to make sustainability part of their daily operations, saying measures such as solar power and waste recycling can reduce costs and improve efficiency.
The hospital made the call at the end of its five-day Go Green Week campaign, held from August 24 to 28, which focused on energy and water conservation, waste management and tree planting.
Gertrude’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Robert Nyarango said the hospital had recorded operational benefits from its sustainability projects.
“Healthcare facilities are significant consumers of power, water and other resources, so sustainability must be part of how hospitals are managed and how we think about efficiency,” Nyarango said.
The hospital installed a rooftop solar system in 2025 that now supplies more than 17 percent of its electricity needs.
The system, designed and installed by Davis & Shirtliff, has a capacity of 362.7 kilowatts from 585 panels.
Gertrude’s has also replaced a diesel-powered boiler with a biomass system operated by Lean Energy. The system uses sustainably sourced organic fuel and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by up to 30 tonnes per month, according to the hospital.
The hospital is also recycling used linen and staff uniforms through a partnership with Africa Collect Textiles. About two tonnes of used textiles have so far been diverted from landfill for recovery and recycling.
Gertrude’s is also working on composting food and gardening waste as part of efforts to reduce the amount of waste sent for disposal.
Chief Nursing Officer Caroline Ayilo said better waste management was important because of the volume of waste generated by healthcare facilities.
“Healthcare generates waste every day, but we have an opportunity to be more deliberate about what we use, what can be reused, and what needs to be disposed of safely,” Ayilo said.
The Go Green Week campaign included a tree-planting exercise at the hospital’s Muthaiga branch, a 10-minute lights-off exercise and a clean-up around the Pangani Medical Centre.
Staff also took part in sessions on waste segregation, recycling and reuse and presented proposals on reducing carbon emissions, resource consumption and waste.
Chief Financial Officer Baraka Kerich said the hospital would continue to identify areas where it could reduce resource use and work with partners on sustainability projects.
