Echo taxonomy description based on specific value of a field in a custom template
So, here's what we ended up with:

$fterm = taxonomy_term_load( (int)$facil-&gt;field_facility_type['und'][0]['tid'] );
        $fname = $fterm-&gt;name;
        $description = $fterm-&gt;description;

        if( $fname == 'Hospital' ) {
            if( !empty($description) ) echo '&lt;div&gt;' . $description . '&lt;/div&gt;';
        }