Just steps from the operating theaters at Melbourne’s Footscray Hospital, a storeroom holds a quiet rebellion against medical waste. Stacked neatly on wire racks are bundles of surgical gowns and drapes — some wrapped in pale blue disposable plastic, others in washable fabric that’s made to last.
The difference seems small, but to critical-care doctor and anesthesiologist Forbes McGain, the latter pile signals a hospital daring to push back against the tide of single-use items pervasive in healthcare.