Corporate Social Responsibility and Profitability in Spanish Private Health Care During the COVID-19 Period

In recent decades, there has been a growing demand for companies to take responsibility for the adverse social and environmental effects caused by their activities. As a result, they are no longer only accountable for their economic performance but also their corporate social responsibility. An important pillar of corporate social responsibility is gender diversity in the company as a whole and on the board of directors in particular. The hospital sector, whose activity in itself requires social responsibility, was later than other sectors in its disclosure. This research aims to analyze the influence of corporate social responsibility, together with gender diversity on boards of directors and the COVID-19 pandemic, on the profitability of Spanish private hospitals. In addition, this research studies the dissemination of COVID-19 throughout the Spanish territory, relating wealth and risk. For this purpose, data corresponding to the period 2017–2020 were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis, cluster analysis, and factor analysis. The results show that those socially responsible hospitals show higher profitability, but no causal relationship has been established. Gender diversity negatively influences the profitability of the private hospital sector, although it can be considered non-significant. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the profitability of hospitals, causing a sharp drop. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic was mainly influenced by the population density of the territories but also by public health investment, showing a greater propensity to control the pandemic in those regions that allocate more funds to health care.