CXO INSIGHT

What has your career journey looked like so far ?

I ' m a physician and when I first started my career , I dealt with a lot of patients in-clinic , and after a while , I found there were lots of other things that I could contribute , outside the clinic .

Later on , I found myself dealing with healthcare planning , healthcare investment and operational management . During this period , I established an NGO , called CSR Middle East – which was one of the Middle East ’ s first Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR ) platforms . Subsequently , I started dealing with the Corporate Social Responsibility projects .

Can you tell us more about the Terra Carta and its mission ?

When the pandemic hit , we gained an increased awareness around sustainability and the environment as humanity realised it ’ s not just about our lives , we have to consider everything around us .

For example , energy was an important topic in our daily life , whereas it was less important in the past . We also came to understand the importance of the supply chain , and so now we understand the environment better .

There are several initiatives in the world at the moment , concerning sustainability and the environment , including the Terra Carta – created by his Royal Highness Prince of Wales , Prince Charles .

He gave a speech about environmental issues , the importance of carbon zero and carbon emissions , before bringing all those things together with this initiative .

What appealed to Fakeeh University Hospital about the initiative ?

Since 2008 , we have been releasing CSR reports , and when we were working on CSR , we had three main pillars : employee , community and environment . So as a group , we already had an awareness and had made it part of our vision / mission as a company .

So , when we started planning Fakeeh University Hospital in 2014 , we decided we ’ d like to have an environmentally-friendly green hospital .

Green hospitals are a very new concept . We invest in hospitals to heal the people , and while healing people we do not want to damage the environment , instead , we have to also heal it .

One of the reasons why environmental damage is happening is because of heavy businesses , such as factories or large operations where there is waste to manage . You ' re running huge engines and consuming a lot of energy , which has an impact on the wider community . So , you are , indirectly , contributing to people ’ s sickness . That is why from day one , we decided to make this hospital as environment friendly as possible .

In LEED , there are three different levels : bronze , silver and gold . We decided to aim for gold and put a lot of investment into this . Why are other hospitals not going in the same direction ?

It is a big investment and it is costly . But it ’ s worth it . The Terra Carta aims to unite people and the planet , by placing importance on nature and ensuring a lasting impact for future generations . This is very similar to our vision , so we are happy to be part of this initiative .

What are the drivers behind Fakeeh ’ s University Hospital ’ s commitment to a more sustainable future ?

We implemented BMS ( Building Management System ). This has helped us manage the hospital incredibly well – like a computer . We teach the system and the system manages the entire hospital based on our efficiency levels , ultimately helping us cut down on waste .

Our efforts have also been aided by the LEED programme . LEED has lots of principles that you have to apply to keep this certificate for the long-term , which we are applying – for example , we ’ re planning to implement solar panels for better and more efficient energy use . www . intelligentcxo . com

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