UnitedHealth chief sustainability officer retires
Patricia Lewis, previously the healthcare company’s top human resources executive, has started her own executive advisory firm. Read More
- Lewis signaled her intention to retire in mid-2025.
- The healthcare company has not publicly named a successor.
- Its short-term emissions reductions targets are limited to its direct operations and electricity use.
UnitedHealth Group Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Vice President Patricia Lewis officially retired in December after almost four years in the role.
Lewis announced her intention to leave this past June in a LinkedIn post, shortly after the unexpected resignation of United Health’s former CEO Andrew Witty. She has started an executive advisory firm.
The world’s largest healthcare company by revenue hasn’t publicly named a new CSO, and it did not respond to requests for comment.
Lewis was UnitedHealth’s chief human resources officer before becoming its first chief sustainability officer in February 2022. Her career as an HR executive started with DuPont in 1989. She was also a top executive focused on employee culture, diversity and inclusion at IBM and Lockheed Martin.
UnitedHealth’s current environmental targets are based on the healthcare provider’s emissions levels during 2023, and include a commitment to cut operational and electricity-related emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 60 percent by 2030. It has achieved a 3 percent reduction through 2024 and is aiming for “operational net zero” by 2035.
The healthcare company also has committed to encouraging 77 percent of its suppliers to set science-based emissions reduction targets by 2030. As of the latest update, 65 percent of them had a roadmap in place.
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