Many hospitals are stepping up efforts to become "green hospitals" with an aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and ensure high environmental standard practices.
Their projects range from increasing green areas to better dealing with energy and medical packaging issues to support the campaign against global warming.
Vimut Holding Hospital Co, a unit of Pruksa Holding, a real estate developer, is developing an orthopedic centre in the Thong Lor area in Bangkok under a green hospital concept.
The centre is designed as an eco-friendly hospital that includes a suitable "healing" environment, offering a relaxing and calming experience for patients and their families during their stay, according to Dr Pichit Kangwolkij, group chief executive of Pruksa Holding.
The construction is based on the idea of a new park in the capital, he said.
The relaxing shady setting at the centre not only promises some curing effects among patients, but, environmentally, growing trees also provides a natural way to absorb carbon dioxide.
THG wants to use eco-friendly materials for its medical packaging.
Army-run Fort Wachirawut Hospital, which is located in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, is interested in energy management issues.
Under its strategy for 2023 to 2027, Fort Wachirawut Hospital aims to enhance all aspects of hospital and healthcare management to make itself medically, financially and environmentally stronger.
The hospital is working on plans to better control costs and ensure wise energy usage to reduce unnecessary expenses, said Maj Gen Chokchai Kwanpichit, a physician and director of Fort Wachirawut Hospital.
Energy conservation is important to reduce the use of electricity from the state grid, which depends largely on fossil fuels.
Natural gas from domestic sources and liquefied natural gas imports make up 60% of the fuels used to generate power in Thailand.
Thonburi Healthcare Group Plc (THG) is also keen on better managing electricity usage.
It plans to install rooftop solar panels at its hospitals, with a goal to increase the proportion of renewable power usage to 20%. The company also wants to use light-emitting diodes for the lighting system at hospitals to save energy.
In the transport sector, THG is transitioning from oil-powered cars to electric vehicles, promoting their use among staff and visitors by increasing the number of charging stations at its hospitals.
THG supports development of environmentally friendly medical packaging, such as medical plastic bags, as part of its goal to transform to a green hospital and lower carbon dioxide emissions.
THG aims to achieve a net-zero target, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption, by 2030.
The company announced it teamed up with a petrochemical firm to seek ways to make use of recycled plastics, potentially producing new packages for medicine.
The study will pave the way for its decision on whether to use recycled plastics or biological materials to make medical packages. If biological materials are used, it adds value to agricultural products, increasing revenue for farmers.
THG is also interested in using garbage bags made from recycled materials.