Prevention is better than cure—Environmental management measures in hospitals

Hospitals are major actors in the health care sector, and their duty is the safe treatment of patients. Thus, hospitals make an important contribution to the achievement of sustainability goals. However, they also have negative environmental impacts. Hospitals have difficulties responding to increasing environmental demands. The aim of this paper is to systematically delineate measures for hospitals' environmental management. We research EMAS‐registered hospitals as pioneers in environmental management that have credibility through external validation. Based on 31 publicly available environmental statements, we analyze measures from the environmental programs. These measures are classified into general management approaches and measures that are related to input (energy, materials, and water) and output (waste, wastewater, and emissions). The paper makes a practical contribution by summarizing environmental measures to improve environmental performance. This provides a brief overview that can serve as a benchmark and best‐practice sharing for other hospitals and organizations interested in environmental protection.