Hospitals, Engineering & the Environment

Engineering is a field commonly associated with mining or industry rather than a hospital. However, from the moment you enter a hospital, various aspects related to engineering are all around you.

The hospital building, for example, is a highly complex unit which is subject to rigorous demands, as most of it is operational both day and night. Patient care is directly and indirectly dependent on the performance of the building, its infrastructure and installed services.

Engineering is one of a number of quiet background support services essential to the operation of a hospital. The engineering team are involved in designing, building, operating and maintaining health care facilities.

The Engineering Department of your South West Health Campus (SWHC), like all other hospitals, is responsible for all services that maintain the fabric and structure of hospital buildings, together with the mechanical and electrical services within.

Technical capability within the hospital is high with a full time dedicated technical team who directly maintain a large number of these systems. Due to the wide range of equipment, some of which require unique and extremely high skills levels to service, the Engineering Department also manage third party contracts for some systems. 

Services and systems within a hospital include power supply, air conditioning (heating and cooling), automated building management systems, lighting, water, fire detection and fighting equipment, security systems, telephone and communication systems, catering and kitchen equipment, dangerous goods handling and storage, bio-medical equipment, medical gases, drainage, roadways, waste disposal and recycling, signage, landscaping and irrigation. These are all necessary services in order to provide a fully functional and suitable hospital environment for patients, staff and visitors.

The Engineering Department of your South West Health Campus facilitates a maintenance regime which services break down requests and planned maintenance programs on a daily basis.  This is complemented by a formal on-call service which operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to ensure that patient care is never compromised due to unavailability of essential services.

Beyond this practical core operational and maintenance aspect, the Engineering Department is responsible for ensuring that operation and maintenance is compliant with current standards -  whether they be industry, legislative or government - to ensure patient care is never compromised and the SWHC is at the forefront of health facility operation.

Additionally, the Engineering Department is charged with ensuring the SWHC is operated in an environmentally sustainable manner.  The Engineering Department aims to decrease the carbon footprint of the SWHC by ensuring efficient use of energy (electricity, gas and water),introducing new energy-saving measures such as water-wise water gardens, and constantly reviewing waste disposal and waste recycling methods.