We are happy to welcome Auckland District Health Board as an international partner to Nordic Center for Sustainable Healthcare. Read about the organization below.
The Auckland District Health Board is located in central Auckland, New Zealand.
The Auckland District Health Board (Auckland DHB) provides healthcare services to the 510,000 residents living in the Auckland isthmus and tertiary specialist services to people from other parts of New Zealand. The Auckland DHB is unique in that is provides specialist services not available from other Health Boards and treats over one million patients annually. It is the fast-growing hospital in NZ with a major academic facility and carries a large training and research role for the country.
With an annual budget of circa NZD $2.5B, with 1,000 in-patient beds, the DHB is one of the largest Boards in New Zealand and a major employer with 11,000 staff. Services are delivered from three main sites; Auckland City Hospital, Grafton (New Zealand’s largest public hospital), Children’s Starship Hospital, Greenlane Clinical Centre, and Buchanan Rehabilitation Centre, Point Chevalier. Other services provided by Auckland DHB include community child and adolescent health and disability services, community mental health services and district nursing.
Climate change is a Health issue
The impact on health from climate change and our sustainability work are inter-dependent as a healthcare provider. This has led us to take a more holistic approach to reduce health inequities and plan for climate change and have adopted the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the nexus between health care and climate change to bring closer alignment with the organisations strategic priorities. Adopting the Goals also aligns with our strategic priorities and to meet Treaty of Waitangi responsibilities. The SDGs are particularly relevant to health and wellbeing (SDG3) in which the Lancet report highlights that “obesity, climate change, and malnutrition are actually all the same issue”. We draw on this work in addressing inequalities and access to services for the most vulnerable. The adoption of the UN Goals includes SDG13 Climate Action and carbon neutral target by 2050.
The organisation has a critical role in the community to reduce the impact on the environment, disruption and harm to the communities we serve today and in the future. We believe that it is our moral and social responsibility to raise awareness of the health effects of climate change and the potential health co-benefits of low carbon pathways.
Auckland DHB is committed to reducing its carbon footprint through energy efficiencies, waste minimisation strategies, innovation, technology, education, and a change in culture that embraces sustainable practice. We are setting an ambitious goal of being carbon neutral by 2050 with the vision is “to meet the needs of today without adversely impacting on the needs of the future generation”
Kaitiakitanga or guardianship is one of our key principles. We work with local Maori partners in preserving our environment and resources that the future generations will need. It’s not about bolting on something because it looks and feels good. It has to be authentic.
As one of the leading public sector health providers and we are also one of the top 200 energy users in the country and consistent with our goal to create healthy communities, our sustainability challenge is to mitigate the harmful effects on people’s health from climate change and health inequities.
The DHB has been recognised as a sector leader for its sustainability work having reduced emissions by 37 per cent over five years. The programme of work has been acknowledged nationally and internationally having received several awards;
§ 2017: 3 Silver awards in GHG Reduction (Energy), GHG Reduction (Non-Energy) and Climate Change Leadership by Green Global Healthy Hospitals network (International)
§ 2017 finalists NZI Sustainable Business Network awards
§ 2018 finalists NZI Sustainable Business Network awards
§ 2018: Commendation for its energy programme - NZI Sustainable Business Network
§ 2018: Commendation for its energy programme - Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority
§ 2019: 3 Gold for GHG Reduction, Climate Change Resilience and Climate Change Leadership by Green Global Healthy Hospitals network
§ 2019: Winner in the Excellence in Climate Action - Large Organisation category by Toitū Envirocare
§ 2020: Top 10 carbon reducers by Toitū Envirocare
§ 2020: 2 Gold awards in GHG Energy Reduction, Climate Leadership and Silver for Climate Resilience by Green Global Healthy Hospitals network
Auckland District Health Board Website
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