Making Hospitals Sustainable: Towards Greener, Fairer and More Prosperous Services

Abstract

The growing demand for hospital services and the pressure to incorporate sustainable strategies into hospital management have led hospitals to rethink their business model and seek new ways to manage their operations. Corporate sustainability is an important way to make hospitals more sustainable and competitive. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework that contains the drivers for the management of sustainability in hospitals (SH), developed through the content analysis method. As a result, this study proposes five drivers: toward the circular economy; making sustainable buildings; adopting knowledge management and organizational culture; employing management systems, tools, and methods; and applying technological innovations. This framework contributes in a managerial way to helping managers of hospitals in managing sustainability; making their businesses fairer, greener, and more prosperous; and fulfilling their commitments to the well-being of their employees and society, providing a basis for moving toward the premises of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda. This study also scientifically contributes to the academic maturation of the topic by systematizing elements and adding insights to the state of the art on SH. It is recommended that future studies add new elements to the drivers or even propose new drivers for the continuous scientific advancement of this topic.