Swiss hospitals: Sustainability pays off

Swiss hospitals are "living large" in terms of emissions: 6.7% of the national CO2e footprint is accounted for by the Swiss healthcare system alone. Sustainability should therefore be on the agenda of every hospital management. Some Swiss hospitals are highly innovative. But in many places, the perception of "investment without return" persists. PwC Switzerland has published an impulse paper entitled "Why sustainability pays off for Swiss hospitals". It was written in February 2022 on the basis of real-life practical examples and the know-how of PwC Switzerland's healthcare experts. In the sense of a transfer of experience, the publication contains various recommendations for action.

Switzerland among the leaders in terms of CO2e footprint

In the case of CO₂e-footprint of the healthcare industry, Switzerland ranks among the top countries internationally. In the ranking of the environmental impact of consumption, healthcare ranks fourth, immediately after nutrition, mobility and housing. Depending on the source, the use of healthcare services accounts for 5 to 12 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland. In view of this fact, it is surprising that hospital managers and healthcare stakeholders do not generally regard sustainability as a matter of urgency. The aforementioned impulse paper now aims to change that.

Innovative role models are available

Some Swiss hospitals have already made considerable progress in terms of sustainability. The University Hospital Basel, for example, does not use the anesthetic gas desflurane, which is over 2,500 times more harmful to the climate than CO₂. Winterthur Cantonal Hospital is integrating green bonds into the financing strategy for its Minergie ECO-certified new building. As part of a plastic recycling initiative, the Lindenhof Group in Bern was able to recycle over 12 tons of plastic in 2020. The list of positive examples is long and highlights the wealth of opportunities sustainability offers for the Swiss healthcare industry.

Multi-layered potential for Swiss hospitals

"We are convinced that Swiss hospitals are using the key issue of sustainability to unleash a momentum of innovation and significantly shape the future of the healthcare industry," says Philip Sommer, Healthcare Advisory Leader at PwC Switzerland. The authors elaborate on what this momentum looks like in concrete terms in the impulse paper:

• Reduce direct and indirect costs: Swiss hospitals can save substantial resources and reduce (special) waste in the short and medium term.
• Maintaining energy supply security: Independent energy supply and heating with electricity is becoming increasingly important, especially for large-scale consumers.
• Attracting skilled workers: Those who position themselves sustainably gain a decisive competitive edge in the battle for qualified personnel.
• Meeting new reporting obligations: The extended reporting obligations of publicly traded companies since January 1, 2022, come into play for a hospital if, for example, it wants to finance a new building on the capital market.
• Preventing a health crisis: Hospitals will soon no longer be able to cushion a continued increase in illnesses associated with the climate crisis.
• Innovate and differentiate: The fine art of innovation is to combine digitization, data science and sustainability into resource-efficient solutions.
• Supporting national and international climate targets: If the world and Switzerland are to achieve net zero by 2050, everyone must help - including service providers.

In the final chapter of the impulse paper, the authors make ten recommendations for action. These can be summarized as follows: Those who embrace the facets of sustainability can actively position themselves in an increasingly competitive environment and better meet the growing regulatory obligations and demands of their stakeholders. The transformation towards sustainable hospital management requires innovation. It can significantly optimize profitability and future prospects. There are therefore many opportunities, and PwC's experts agree that this potential must be exploited. Source and further information: www.pwc.ch. The impulse paper can be download here.

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/schweizer-spitaeler-nachhaltigkeit-lohnt-sich/