IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v34y2026i4p5669-5688.html

Toward Sustainable Healthcare: Examining ESG‐Readiness in Austrian Regional State‐Owned Hospitals

Author

Listed:
  • Philumena Bauer
  • Dorothea Greiling
  • Hüseyin Celik
  • Laura Kienast

Abstract

Reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is now an essential part of responsible corporate governance, including in the healthcare sector. This study investigates the ESG reporting practices of Austrian regional state‐owned hospitals (rSOHs), contributing to the growing sustainability literature. Thirteen interviews with representatives from 10 rSOHs, along with an analysis of reports and websites, reveal that most rSOHs are at an early stage of structured ESG reporting. Significant effort is needed to meet the standards of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. While management commitment and employee engagement are key drivers, legal pressure and societal expectations further promote transparency. However, limited resources, administrative burdens, and the risk of superficial compliance hinder progress. Current efforts focus heavily on social issues, often neglecting governance and environmental issues. This study is among the first to assess ESG reporting in Austrian rSOHs under the CSRD, offering theoretical insights and proposing a practical ESG transformation framework for healthcare institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Philumena Bauer & Dorothea Greiling & Hüseyin Celik & Laura Kienast, 2026. "Toward Sustainable Healthcare: Examining ESG‐Readiness in Austrian Regional State‐Owned Hospitals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 5669-5688, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:4:p:5669-5688
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.70656
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.70656
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.70656?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:34:y:2026:i:4:p:5669-5688. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.