HMC celebrates staff achievements with Stars of Excellence awards

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) recently held a glittering awards ceremony at Katara Cultural Village to celebrate the achievements of nominees under the corporation’s staff awards and recognition program, the Stars of Excellence. Nominees include managerial and healthcare teams across HMC that have made significant contributions to patient care and to the organization.

The Stars of Excellence program is organized by HMC’s Center for Healthcare Improvement (CHI) working closely with the Managing Director’s Office. The program is based on the concept that achieving excellence is a continuous journey, and that the contributions of strong and supportive teams throughout the organization are key to HMC’s success in delivering excellent healthcare that meets the growing and changing needs of the country.

Mr Nasser Al Naimi, Executive Director of the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Program Lead for Stars of Excellence  said more than 500 nominations have been submitted to the annual awards program since it was launched in 2010. “We have received 360 nominations this year – a staggering 84 percent increase on the 196 that were received in 2011. The caliber of submissions is also improving each year. These developments indicate the strong impact and widespread appreciation of the awards program across the organization.”

Nominations came from all areas of HMC, ranging from frontline nursing care to support functions such as warehouse management. Of these nominations, 60 teams have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to HMC’s success in delivering high quality patient care.

“Within the Health category we have recognized five streams of excellence: Performance, Service, Practice (Clinical or Operational), Technological Innovation and Leadership Team Impact. An Education Award and a Research Award were also given in recognition of the two other pillars intertwined with Health,” Mr Al Naimi explained. “This year we have also introduced a special Managing Director’s Award to recognize exceptional teams and projects.”

Eight winners were named under the above streams. One of the winners was the team that managed the highly complex project to build the PET-CT Center. This is Qatar’s first operational Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) and cyclotron facility for the diagnosis and research of cancer and other ailments. This state-of-the-art facility provides specialized diagnosis as part of world-class cancer treatment for patients living in Qatar.

The PET-CT Center offers complete patient care ranging from diagnosis and assessment of treatment response for cancer, cardiology and neurology patients. It houses a state of the art combination PET-CT scanner, an imaging system that gives physicians highly defined, three dimensional pictures of both form and function inside a patient’s body. The adjacently located Cyclotron facility is equipped to produce radiopharmaceuticals, which are radioactive substances that may be used to treat cancer.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director of HMC said, “The Stars of Excellence event is as unique as HMC itself. It recognizes our achievements and progress towards our goal of delivering the highest levels of patient care to the people of Qatar. Together, we make a difference to the lives of people across the nation on a daily basis. We do this through our international-standard clinical services which we are continually seeking to improve; through our commitment to research, education and training in order to bring tangible benefits to our patients; and through our ongoing investment in our people, innovation and technology.”

Dr Al Kuwari said that the last twelve months have been among the most exciting in the history of HMC. She mentioned a few of the corporation’s achievements such as the opening of three new hospitals. Another achievement is the introduction of the fixed time appointment system in the Outpatient Department (OPD) clinics which has given patients access to specialists in a timelier manner; and the early results from the clinics across Hamad General Hospital indicate wait times have reduced by more than 75 percent as a result of the new appointment system.

“We have also seen real transformation in the delivery of our cancer services. Every patient diagnosed with cancer now has his or her own dedicated Patient Pathway Coordinator. By the end of this year, any patients referred to a cancer specialist will be seen within 48 hours,” said Dr Al Kuwari. She further pointed out that HMC’s commitment to implement an Academic Health System is stronger than ever and is already delivering results.

Dr Al Kuwari praised and congratulated the nominees for their unique endeavors in delivering these improvements that have resulted in substantial benefits for patients. “A recent Gallup survey showed a 90 percent satisfaction rate among HMC’s patients. This is tremendous recognition that our shared passion for changing lives for the better is working,” she added.

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