Hospital procedures are impacted by Covid-19. Find out more here.

Hospital procedures are impacted by Covid-19. Find out more here.

Southern Cross Healthcare extends care into the environment


Climate change is recognised as a major global challenge. As New Zealanders, we know we are only as healthy as the environment in which we live. An environment which increasingly is under pressure through changing diseases, depletion of natural resources and surging demand for health and surgical services.

Our vision is to advance the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders, both today and for future generations, by ensuring we actively seek innovative ways to protect and look after our environment. The Southern Cross Healthcare Sustainability Strategy shapes how we will deliver on this vision.

As Tracey Barron, Southern Cross Healthcare Chief of Strategy explains; “Our Sustainability Strategy is an important component of our 2020-2025 strategy plan. It provides structure and co-ordinated focus on how we will lower carbon emissions and support New Zealand’s climate pledge under the Paris Agreement.”

Southern Cross Healthcare acknowledges the impact healthcare and hospitals have on our environment and our global whanau. That is why we are taking big steps, through our work with Toitu Envirocare, to measure, manage and reduce our carbon emissions across our national network of wholly-owned hospitals.

Working closely with Toitu, we have benchmarked the breadth and scale of our environmental footprint, which is the first step in understanding and addressing our carbon impact. Our sustainability initiatives are monitored to measure our improvements, as we continue to build a culture of sustainability into our organisation.

Our commitment to meeting our sustainability goals is strengthened through executive, management and employee support. So many teams and individuals have shown passion and innovation in seeking increasingly sustainable ways of working and bringing sustainability into their roles.

Sustainability is described as a marathon not sprint, one that requires all of us to make informed, educated choices on a daily basis knowing each of our actions has an impact and together we can, and are, making a difference.

As we continue to grow our sustainability at Southern Cross Healthcare so will our communications; we will be sharing plenty more good news sustainability stories in 2021.