BRTTH spends P15 M for infectious waste disposal

By Mark A. Gomez

The Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH) in Legazpi City is spending over P15 million annually for the disposal of its garbage classified as infectious waste.

According to Dr. Eric Raymond N. Raborar, BRTTH chief, the volume of infectious waste from their hospital has dramatically increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic .

He said the necessity to constantly change the personal protective equipment (PPEs) and face masks of hospital workers and the increasing number of Covid-19 patients are the major reasons for the increase in volume of infectious waste.

Raborar said they are doing their best to resolve the problem even if it is costly. The pre-Covid schedule of garbage disposal of every six months has been shorten to three months to reduce the accumulation of toxic waste in BRTTH. This entail additional expense, he added.

BRTTH already sought the help of Engr. Noli Panuelos of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on the matter of clearing of the infectious waste in the hospital compound. In the past, the hospital’s contagious waste were dumped in a facility in Cavite province.

BRTTH, the Bicol Medical Center (BMC) in Naga City and another government hospital in Camarines Sur are proposing to the Department of Health (DOH) in Bicol for the establishment of a modern dumpsite in Daraga, Albay that will be dedicated for the safe disposal of the infectious garbage from the various hospitals in the region.