Gisborne Hospital on a power-saving campaign

Gisborne staff are being encouraged to reduce energy consumption where appropriate — measures the interim hospital lead says “do not impact patient safety or comfort”. Gisborne Herald file picture

Switching to back-up generator on hot days, staff encouraged to ‘safely reduce energy use’.

Recent hot days have resulted in Gisborne Hospital wards being switched to back-up generator power to prevent power overload.

Documentation seen by The Gisborne Herald shows that in order to reduce load on the electrical transformers, all wards in the ward block are sometimes switched to generator power.

This involves a power outage of 30 to 60 seconds before power is restored each time.

Interim hospital lead Bhargav Srinivasan said patients were not at risk.

“A large portion of the hospital’s electrical supply comes through one substation.  Current power provisions do not allow for additional power resources that would be required to run air conditioning in all areas on very hot days.

“A hospital load-sharing plan has been developed, which includes a staggered approach to alerting staff of the need to save energy when power consumption is high.

“In an extreme situation, different areas of the hospital can be switched to generator power to manage power surges.”

Hospital staff are also encouraged to “Flip the Switch!”, as part of a growing awareness of the environmental impact they have on the space they occupy.

“We began our campaign last week on how to safely reduce our energy use.

“The Flip the Switch! campaign asks staff to help manage the hospital’s energy loading on hot days by reducing electricity consumption where they can.

“The measures, which do not impact patient safety or comfort, include shutting windows where air conditioning units are in use, and turning off lights and other power-consuming appliances not in use.”

The all-staff effort was needed when the outside temperature is 28 degrees or higher, Mr Srinivasan said.

“We’re all in this together to help reduce our energy consumption without impacting the quality and safety of day-to-day care. Patients will not be at risk during any of our power-saving measures.”

Mr Srinivasan says there is a plan for an electrical upgrade later this year but “for now we are looking at ways we can be sustainable with power saving”.