the first such system ever installed outside the United States, Bermuda Hospitals Board executive director Sheila Manderson said yesterday.

"The bio-oxidiser is the very latest equipment available, and its installation counts as a major achievement for the Hospitals Board,'' Ms Manderson said.

Medical waste, such as body tissue and biomedical parts, needs to be disposed of at extremely high temperatures. The Tynes Bay incinerator -- initially explored as a possible means of processing the waste -- does not burn at sufficiently high temperature. The new bi-oxidiser at the King Edward reaches temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The equipment was installed in December of last year, and is currently being tested, prior to coming online in March, when the central utility plant will be officially opened.

"This equipment exceeds the requirements of the Bermuda Clean Air Act, so we are naturally very pleased,'' Ms Manderson said. "On my first day in this position, I was challenged to do something about our medical waste.'' She has made environmental issues one of her top priorities during her tenure as executive director of Bermuda's Hospitals Board.

Another improvement at King Edward is the sinking of deep wells for cooling purposes, allowing the cooling towers currently on the roof of the main building to be done away with.

The cooling wells are needed to support the hospital's air conditioning systems, which result in considerable evaporation of the water used in the process. The elimination of the towers will also do away with the noise of the fans they contain.

"These environmental improvements are not as immediately apparent to the public as, say, our New Wing is, but they form part of a programme of improvements aimed at keeping the King Edward VII Hospital as up to date as we can make it,'' Ms Manderson said. "This project is a result of partnering with Besco, the energy management arm of Belco.'' The hospital's Bermudian executive director, who has been in the post for more than four and a half years after returning to the Island from California, is set to retire "some time later this year''.

Sheila Manderson profile: Lifestyle, Page 13