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St Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital has been honoured with a 2024 Global Recognition Award for its outstanding contributions to healthcare and sustainability.
The prestigious award recognises the Queensland hospital's pioneering efforts in robotic-assisted surgery, and its comprehensive approach to sustainability.
St Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital's business development manager, Ken Hilliard, said everyone at the Darling Downs facility was "thrilled" with its achievement in one of the world's leading business awards programs.
"Our motto is 'our people do amazing things', and I feel that really embodies it," he said.
The private hospital has an extensive rainwater management system, incorporating more than 270,000 litres of storage capacity.
The system collects rainwater and recycled water from sterilisers and the reverse osmosis plant, supplemented by bore water during dry periods.
This innovative approach ensures a steady water supply to 250 toilets, irrigation systems, and other facilities across the hospital grounds.
"The sustainability component is something that is really highlighted these days and it's something the hospital has actually been doing for years," Mr Hilliard said.
"It sets a benchmark, which is important, and it contributes to the community.
"When there are water restrictions here, the health sector obviously uses a lot of water, and we're able to say to the community that we're doing our part as well."
The hospital, established in 1966, has also developed specialised detention basins to manage rainwater overflow, prevent flooding and erosion, and protect hospital infrastructure and the surrounding community.
The Global Recognition Award also highlighted St Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital's commitment to technology.
It has been pioneering robotic-assisted surgery in regional Australia since 2014, and prides itself on being the first hospital outside the major cities to offer such advanced procedures.
"Technology is extremely important to us," Mr Hilliard said.
"There used to be a thought that to get better treatment, you had to go to the big smoke but that's no longer the case.
"Having these technologies, that sets a benchmark, and it's good for the hospital to be able to attract surgeons.
"Saying that, it's the staff that have to adopt the technology. So, it's easy for us to buy it, the staff then all have to be on the same page with adopting it, and we find that all our amazing staff here do just that."
Mr Hilliard said the hospital took its role in a regional community seriously.
"We're a big part of Toowoomba, the hospital has an old-school, community feel about it and I love that," he said.
"COVID really highlighted the importance of mental health, and we are the only hospital here that offers mental health services."
Read more: Regional-first robot surgery
Read more: Robot milestone for pioneering regional hospital
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