Ann Ig. 2025 May 13. doi: 10.7416/ai.2025.2708. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hospitals are among the most resource-intensive infrastructures, consuming significant amounts of energy, water, and materials while contributing 5.2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Despite growing awareness and international commitments, hospitals face financial, structural, and operational barriers in implementing sustainability strategies.
STUDY DESIGN: The study assesses the maturity of healthcare stakeholders regarding environmental sustainability, exploring key drivers, barriers, and strategies for integrating sustainability into healthcare facilities.
METHODS: A national web-based survey was conducted within the Joint Research Partnership Healthcare Infrastructures between November 2022 and January 2023, gathering 30 responses from 32 partners (94% participation rate). The analysis focuses on the environmental sustainability dimension, using descriptive statistics to identify trends, challenges, and best practices.
RESULTS: Healthcare stakeholders selected the most relevant Sustainable Development Goals for hospitals. Sustainability is widely recognized as a priority, yet resource allocation emerges as marginal. The most frequently cited constraint for improving environmental sustainability was financial constraints (n=27/30). Indeed, some hospitals are implementing energy-efficient retrofitting, high-efficiency thermal power plants, and sustainability building certification. The adoption of Building Energy Management Systems and retrofit interventions to maximise energy efficiency suggests increasing interest in sustainability performance measurement.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite growing awareness, financial and regulatory support must be strengthened to facilitate hospital sustainability investments. Early integration of sustainability principles, access to public and private models and multi-stakeholder collaboration are crucial. Future research and action should foster multi-stakeholders approaches, develop sector-specific sustainability frameworks and assess the long-term impact of sustainability initiatives in healthcare.
PMID:40357533 | DOI:10.7416/ai.2025.2708
