MoH Commended for Outstanding Services

 

“The achievement is a pride for the Kingdom and an example to be followed by the GCC and other Arab and Middle Eastern countries,” Director General of the Executive Board of the GCC Health Ministers Council Tawfiq A. Khoja said in a letter addressed to the Health Ministry yesterday.

 

He added that the achievement reflected the realistic approach of the Ministry of Health (MoH) in providing an excellent level of health, curative and preventive services plus a good work environment.

 

Khoja said the certification program at the ministry, which is aimed at quality improvement in hospitals, represents a major step in tailoring the health services for citizens and residents in the Kingdom. In addition, he said, it created a healthy competition among health providers to offer optimal services to the beneficiaries.

 

Recently, Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah honored a number of hospitals that had rendered outstanding services in compliance with their affiliation to the US-based JCI for the adoption of health facilities.

 

The JCI-accredited hospitals honored were King Khalid Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saud Babtain Cardiac Center in Dammam, King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam, King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh, Ajyad Hospital in Makkah, Hira General Hospital in Makkah, King Abdulaziz Hospital in Taif, King Saud Hospital in Unaizah and King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah.

 

Commenting on this remarkable achievement, Khoja said it reflected the care shown by all officials and staff of the Health Ministry spearheaded by the health minister, who pays special attention to improve the health services in the Kingdom.

 

“This achievement came as a boost for the ministry’s comprehensive health care strategy that puts the citizen and patient at its focal point, whereby “patients first” has become a major slogan and strategic objective of the ministry’s programs,” Khoja said. The Joint Commission International has been working with health care organizations, ministries of health and global organizations in over 80 countries since 1994.

 

JCI’s focus is on improving the safety of patient care through the provision of accreditation and certification services as well as through advisory and educational services aimed at helping organizations implement practical and sustainable solutions.

 

It has been accrediting health care organizations since 1999. The year 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the first hospital accredited by JCI — Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, a private, nonprofit, nongovernmental facility in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

 

Since then, approximately 450 public and private health care organizations in 50 countries have been accredited or certified by JCI. It provides accreditation for hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, clinical laboratories, care continuum services, home care and long-term care organizations, medical transport organizations, and primary care services, as well as certification for 15 types of clinical care programs.