BAUKO, Mountain Province – The administration of the State-run Luis Hora Regional Memorial Hospital (LHRMH) is ready to bid out its P7 million solar project to tap renewable sources of energy to power to some of the government hospital’s facilities.
LHRMH medical center chief Dr. Eduardo Calpito said that some P7 million was sourced by the hospital from the central office to bankroll the implementation of its solar project to ensure that the source of power of some hospital facilities will come from locally-sourced renewable energy to help in lessening their dependence on power from the existing power distributor.
“We are about to bid our long-overdue solar power project so that we can pilot test solar power in the highlands in line with our energy conservation initiatives,” Dr. Calpito stressed.
He identified among the facilities of the hospital to be initially served by solar power will include the operating room, obstetrics and gynecology ward, emergency room and the administration offices once the solar project will be completed probably by the end of the year.
The LHRMH official claimed that the hospital is seeking to become the first government medical facility in Northern Luzon to implement its own solar power project which can be replication by other government hospitals once the project will be successful.
According to him, the bidding process of the project is being worked on by the Bids and Wards Committee (BAC) so that the solar power project will be awarded to a respected solar power company which has a proven track record in the industry to ensure the successful implementation of the project beneficial to both the government and the clients of the hospital.
Calpito said that the regional hospital is one of the recipients of the funding assistance from the health department to implement its proposed solar power project that will help in opening up the opportunities for the possible conversion of the whole facility into a solar-powered hospital depending on the success of the pilot testing of solar power in some of its existing services and established rooms.
He admitted one of the challenges facing the hospital is availability of sunlight, the source of solar power, whole year round because of the absence of sunlight during the rainy season to charge the solar panels, but there is still a need for the hospital to pilot test the project to ascertain its success even in the highlands that is not always lighted up by the sun.
The medical officer expressed his gratitude to regional and national health officials for bestowing their confidence in the successful implementation of the regional hospital’s solar project which is part of the government’s thrust to help government facilities and offices lower their power consumption expenses.
He called on the stakeholders to support the initiative of the hospital to try solar power in some of its facilities to gauge how feasible is solar power in the highlands.
By HENT
