Climate, Sustainability, and Talent Strategy in U.S. Healthcare

Second post in our series on convergence of health sector and sustainability predictions for the New Year

It’s time to take a closer look at the convergence between 2026 healthcare predictions and sustainability. This post focuses on workforce pressures: burnout, productivity, and persistent shortages.

Climate change is affecting the healthcare workforce in multiple, compounding ways. First, concern about the health impacts of climate change weighs heavily on many healthcare professionals. Global and U.S.-based surveys document high levels of anxiety and worry among clinicians. Younger healthcare workers likely mirror broader population trends, where nearly 60% of 16–25-year-olds report being “very” or “extremely” worried about climate change.

If health system leaders are serious about addressing burnout, they cannot ignore that a large share of their workforce carries high baseline concern about climate change—especially when organizations lack a clear strategy and investment plan for managing climate risks.

Beyond psychological stress, climate change also has direct effects on workforce safety and productivity. Clinicians working in regions affected by flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, extreme heat, and drought face physical threats, disrupted commutes, childcare challenges, and repeated surge conditions layered onto already strained systems. Stories like that of Dr. Joshua Weil who was incident commander at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital as his own home burned to the ground during 2017 Tubbs fire illustrate this with devastating clarity.

Climate is not the only driver of workforce strain—but it is an increasingly important one.

Healthcare professionals care about climate change, and importantly for executives, they care about what their employers are doing in response. The strongest U.S. evidence comes from a recent Commonwealth Fund survey, which found that nearly 80% of healthcare professionals care about their employer’s efforts to improve sustainability and climate resilience. More than half (53%) consider these efforts when deciding whether to stay in a job, and nearly two-thirds (62%) consider them when accepting a new position.

Healthcare employers should want to be seen as credible, forward-thinking, and prepared institutions in the face of growing climate-related stress.

So what can the C-suite do?

· Explicitly link sustainability, resilience, and mission: Healthy people depend on healthy environments. Most healthcare staff already understand this—leadership should state it clearly.

· Strengthen workplace safety and continuity: Visible protection from heat, air pollution, and climate disruptions builds confidence in leadership.

· Improve operational efficiency: Reducing waste and emissions often reduces workload and frustration at the same time.

· Invest in training and capability building: Climate resilience skills support workforce development and retention.

This is not climate advocacy. It is operational intelligence.

The bottom line

In 2026, sustainability can meaningfully inform workforce recruitment and retention strategies in U.S. healthcare. Making this connection tells clinicians that leadership understands the realities patients live in—and is committed to building a system capable of holding up under repeated stress.

Workforce resilience and climate resilience are no longer separate issues. Treating them as such risks losing worker trust, engagement, and stability at a moment when healthcare can least afford it.