Sustainability in Health Care Organizations: Successes, Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Sustainability initiatives in organizations have become increasingly prevalent amidst not only requests and demands from stakeholders for such but also from the documented realization of the operational and financial benefits frequently associated with such activity. Health care institutions, particularly hospitals, have the potential to assume a significant leadership role in the implementation of sustainable business practices. This paper explores the context in which health care institutions can engage in sustainability and provides some examples of successful sustainability initiatives, whose lessons can be applied in organizations of all sizes across industries.