St. Vincent’s University Hospital named Healthcare Organisation of the Year

13th October 2026

St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) has been named Healthcare Organisation of the Year at Ireland’s Climate Change Leadership Awards 2026.

The award recognises the hospital’s work over the past five years to reduce its environmental impact, strengthen its resilience to climate change and make sustainability part of how healthcare is planned and delivered.

While much of the programme has been guided by the hospital’s Estates Department, the award reflects work taking place across SVUH. Clinical teams, laboratories, catering, facilities and many other departments have introduced changes that support more sustainable care while keeping patients at the centre.

By the end of 2025, SVUH had achieved a 58.6% improvement in energy efficiency against its baseline, exceeding the public-sector target of a 50% improvement by 2030.

This progress has been supported by a wide range of initiatives across the hospital, including:

• Replacing 8,224 fluorescent light fittings with energy-efficient LED lighting.
• Introducing smart energy monitoring across the campus.
• Upgrading heating, ventilation and building management systems.
• Ending the use of Desflurane, an anaesthetic gas with a high environmental impact.
• Achieving Green Labs certification in the Microbiology and Haematology laboratories, with further laboratories working towards certification.
• Removing single-use plastic cups, cutlery and straws from catering.
• Improving waste segregation and recycling.
• Supporting active travel through improved cycling, changing and shower facilities.
• Introducing biodiversity projects, including a rewilded area for native pollinators.
• Developing lower-carbon models of care, including the SVUH Virtual Ward, which allows suitable patients to receive hospital-level monitoring and treatment at home.

Pauline McGrath, CEO of St Vincent’s University Hospital, said:

“We are extremely proud to receive this award. It belongs to colleagues right across SVUH who have looked at how we work and found practical ways to reduce our environmental impact while continuing to provide safe, high-quality care.

Climate change is also a public health issue. As a major healthcare organisation, we have a responsibility to lead by example and to make sustainability part of our decisions, our services and the care we provide. I would like to congratulate Nick, our Estates team, the Sustainability Committee and every member of staff who has contributed to this achievement.”

Nick Andrews, Head of Estates Operations at SVUH, said:

“While the Estates team has helped to guide many of the larger projects, this award is about the hospital as a whole. There is a huge amount of good work happening within individual departments, often led by staff who see an opportunity to do something better and make it happen.

Not every initiative will have been captured in our award submission but together they show how much progress has been made. This recognition is an opportunity to acknowledge the work completed to date and the contribution of staff across SVUH.”

SVUH’s Climate and Sustainability Strategy is aligned with Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and the HSE Climate Action Roadmap. Environmental and energy performance is reported through the hospital’s governance structures, and sustainability is considered in the early planning of major capital and service developments.

The hospital will continue working with the HSE Energy Bureau, the HSE Sustainability Office and healthcare colleagues nationally to share learning and support more sustainable and climate-resilient healthcare.