Environmental management in public hospitals: Environmental management in Colombia

Introduction: Activities in hospitals have environmental impacts which may pose risks to human and environmental health if they are not managed correctly. For this reason, it is necessary to implement an environmental management plan in hospitals that not only focuses on solid waste management but includes all aspects associated with health within institutions. Objective: To review environmental management aspects related to public hospitals in order to identify environmental management alternatives and aspects to improve. Materials and methods: Descriptive qualitative study with crosssectional design, which identifies some of the most important characteristics of environmental management in hospitals. Results: The general approach to environmental management in hospitals is related to the management of solid waste, and other aspects that have a negative environmental impact on the surrounding areas, such as energy and water consumption, food handling and medication waste, among others, are not properly addressed. Conclusions: Hospitals can apply broader environmental management instruments, including life cycle analysis of their products and services and monitoring of the carbon footprint; they may also take into account the different areas of environmental impact of their operation