Beirut, Lebanon – 2023: As part of the efforts exerted amid the challenges facing the Lebanese healthcare sector, Bellevue Medical Center received the award of excellence in healthcare sustainability and five certificates from the Arab Hospitals Federation as part of the gold certificate initiative “Arab Healthcare Climate Change Challenge Champion”.
Forty-seven hospitals and leading institutions in the healthcare field, distributed among nine Arab countries, participated in this competition. They submitted all the required detailed documents, leading to the victory of 10 participants in various categories, including Bellevue Medical Center, the only participant from Lebanon.
The certificates awarded to Bellevue Medical Center include the Sustainable Healthcare Facility Design Certificate (Diamond Champion), for the hospital’s adoption of environmentally friendly infrastructure and designs based on providing comfortable and safe services to patients and caregivers amid a green nature. Also, the Green Hospital Certificate (Diamond Champion) was among the certificates. It awarded the hospital’s commitment to environmental initiatives and environmentally friendly practices; the latest of which is the launch of a solar energy project extending over an area of 3200 m2 and consisting of more than 1245 solar panels able to provide alternative energy to all its departments, which is of utmost importance at this stage in the absence of centralized solutions to ensure continuous power supply and to enable the hospital to provide permanent, constant quality care to patients.
As for the Diamond Champion certificate for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, the hospital received it for having adopted green technologies to ensure the continuity of tasks in all departments, including cooling, heating, and lighting systems along with innovative equipment.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of Bellevue Medical Center, Mr. Nayef Maalouf, was awarded the Gold Champion certificate in the Visionary Leader in Healthcare Sustainability category. This recognized his tremendous efforts in turning challenges into opportunities by offering environmentally friendly solutions and developing an effective strategy based on sustainable foundations to maintain the quality of healthcare with the hospital’s continued compliance with international standards.
The fifth certificate and title of Gold Champion that was awarded to the hospital was in the category of Water, Waste and Resource Management. This was for the hospital’s strategy of reducing waste and water consumption, sorting waste, adopting recycling techniques, supporting initiatives to preserve and protect the environment and the establishment of internal and external activities aimed at spreading awareness on this matter.
On this occasion, Mr. Nayef Maalouf, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bellevue Medical Center, said: “This achievement concerns not only Bellevue Medical Center, but the healthcare sector as a whole which has gone through and continues to face the most difficult challenges. I dedicate this success to all those working in the healthcare sector in Lebanon, the competent medical staff and employees who are tirelessly working to raise the sector to the highest level in terms of international quality standards.” He added: “We renew our commitment to patients and look forward to a bright future that will enable us to complete our journey that puts the person first”.
This award and certificates are added to many awards that the hospital has received over the years, most notably the Joint Commission International accreditation, that BMC has received four times, as well as the Planetree International Gold certificate received twice by BMC for its person-centered care achievements, and for which it remains the only hospital in Lebanon to be granted this certificate.