A Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping Approach for the Evaluation of Hospital’s Sustainability: An Integrated View

The relationship among sustainability criteria in the hospital cannot be assessed easily. As there exist a lot of criteria to evaluate if the hospital is sustainable based on green concept, the relationships between the qualifications by using fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) have been tried to be seen in a macro perspective. Furthermore, Fuzzy Cognitive mapping is a very useful tool to evaluate the relationship between the qualifications/concepts and see how the qualifications affect each other. It is clear that fuzzy cognitive mapping allows us to see which qualifications should be improved. Adjacent matrix of the mapping also shows the negative and positive effects in a quantitative way. In this study, it is aimed to investigate hospitals’ sustainability criteria by using fuzzy cognitive mapping approach. Based on the numerical analysis, indoor quality and policies and regulations are the most centered-ones while food quality and occupational health and safety are the least centered ones based on sustainability evaluation of hospitals. Also, it is tried to understand that policies and regulations are the most effecting concepts on the other concepts. Energy usage and water usage are relatively high effecting concepts of a hospital’s sustainability evaluation to be green hospital. There are many factors affecting a hospital’s view trying to be sustainable and high-qualified. As quality is a large concept including continuous improvement, in terms of sustainability, many factors should be taken into consideration by observing the relationship and correlation between factors.