Sustainable Strategies for Rural Hospitals

Description

Enviromental sustainability in connection with the climate change have become a topical issue in strategic planning also at the rural hospitals. The aim of this study is to investigate the contemporary and unique challenges of rural hospitals in becoming more sustainable to better understand the gaps and unexploited aspects of sustainability in strategic planning and rural hospitals.
Current study has been made within the fundamental and applied research (GreenCare project Nr. Lzp-2023/1-034) that aims to develop an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible business model for public sector hospitals.
Results: The results of the study show that that there are gaps and unexploited aspects of sustainability in strategic planning and operation of rural hospitals. During the past ten years, understanding of the significance of sustainability within the context of strategic planning (management) has increased. In nowadays, healthcare professionals, leaders and organisations understand the importance of the sustainale strategies as a scientific discipline that can produce knowledge to redesign business models and processes at rural hospitals and improve medical care and patient satisfaction. There have been studies conducted in Latvia on the importance of sustainable management in healthcare, however there are only few studies on the integration of sustainability factors in the overal strategic and operational management of healthcare organisations and rural hospitals in particular. Therefore, the GreenCare project research focuses on the need to integrate sustainability factors into strategic management in healthcare organisations of Latvia.
Conclusions: Rural hospitals face challenges in becoming more environmentally sustainable, but with strategic management, collaboration, educating leadership and using funding opportunities, rural hospitals can overcome above obstacles. By adopting environmental initiatives and leveraging available resources, rural hospitals can enhance their resilience and environmental stewardship.

Period	10 Jul 2025
Event title	30th European Society for Rural Sociology Congress
Event type	Congress
Conference number	30
Organiser	European Society for Rural Sociology
Location	Riga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International