OAK BROOK TERRACE, Ill., Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Joint Commission International (JCI) recognized the winners of the inaugural Global Patient Safety Awards today at UNIFY 2026™: Convening for Quality, Joint Commission’s annual, flagship conference that brings together global healthcare leaders for two days of discussions focused on the future of healthcare and patient safety.
The Global Patient Safety Awards were created to stimulate global knowledge sharing and learning by recognizing healthcare organizations and national health authorities whose innovative approaches are advancing safer, higher quality patient care. In its first year, the program attracted submissions from over 250 healthcare organizations and national health authorities across 32 countries from different regions. Award-winning applications were selected through a rigorous review process led by an international panel of both internal JCI and external patient safety experts, who evaluated the initiatives for innovation, effectiveness, scalability, sustainability, and transferability.
“The first cohort of Global Patient Safety Award winners exemplify what is possible when healthcare organizations and national health authorities’ pair bold leadership with dedication to measurable improvement,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO, Joint Commission Enterprise. “Their work demonstrates that safer, higher-quality care is achievable across diverse settings and resource environments, and that proven practices, when shared, can accelerate progress for safer patient care and healthcare systems around the world. Congratulations to the honorees – by sharing their accomplishments, we hope to extend the impact of their work, inspiring, concerted action towards elevating healthcare quality and safety for patients and healthcare systems worldwide.”
“Every day, international healthcare organizations and health authorities around the world are finding new, innovative ways to enhance safety for patients and healthcare workers alike,” said Dr. Neelam Dhingra, Vice President and Chief Global Patient Safety Officer, Joint Commission International. “These awards recognize those that are creating successful models which others can learn from and replicate in their own countries and communities. This important work demonstrates that meaningful improvements in patient safety are possible across every healthcare setting.”
The 2026 Global Patient Safety Award Winners are:
National Health Authority Category
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Emirates Health Services is the recipient of the Global Patient Safety Award – National Health Authority, recognized for its innovative application of artificial intelligence in medical imaging across multiple clinical areas, including breast cancer screening, tuberculosis screening, stroke detection, osteoporosis identification, and fracture assessment under the program “The Future of Medical Imaging: Detection to Prediction.” The initiative significantly reduced diagnostic turnaround times while strengthening clinical decision-making and patient outcomes through advanced predictive technologies and robust governance frameworks.
Healthcare Organization Category
King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre — Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is one of the recipients of a Global Patient Safety Award – Healthcare Organization for developing Paramedic STEP: Safe Transport Evaluation Protocol for High-risk Care Transitions. STEP is a practical and highly adaptable approach designed to improve patient safety during care transitions. The initiative reframes patient transportation, elevating it from a logistical function to a critical patient safety intervention. By empowering paramedics to serve as a final safety checkpoint before patient transfers, the program helped reduce patient harm for high-risk transfers, decrease emergency department returns, and lower readmission rates. Since implementation, STEP has screened more than 1,200 patients.
KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Singapore is a recipient of a Global Patient Safety Award – Healthcare Organization for its “From Silence to Safety: A Decade-Long Systems Transformation of Patient Safety Culture” initiative that resulted in sustained, organization-wide transformation in patient safety culture over more than a decade. Through leadership engagement, workforce empowerment, and systems-based improvements, the hospital significantly enhanced communication openness, psychological safety, and non-punitive responses to error while creating a model that has influenced healthcare organizations across Singapore’s health system.
Mafraq Comprehensive Health Center in Jordan is a recipient of a Global Patient Safety Award – Healthcare Organization for the “Advancing Early Breast Cancer Detection” program, which focused on improving access to early breast cancer detection and preventive care especially in rural and underserved populations in the country. The initiative utilized structured diagnostic processes to support consistent and reliable screening quality, ultimately reducing delays in diagnosis, increasing access for underserved women, and creating earlier opportunities to identify breast cancer when treatment is more effective.
In addition to attending the annual UNIFY conference to share more about their efforts, the awardees will be recognized through JCI communications and future knowledge-sharing opportunities designed to accelerate learning across the international healthcare community.
To learn more about the 2026 awardees and their accomplishments, visit Joint Commission International’s website: https://www.jointcommission.org/en/about-us/recognizing-excellence/awards
About Joint Commission International
Joint Commission International (JCI), established in 1994, is a nonprofit affiliate of Joint Commission, dedicated to improving healthcare quality and patient safety worldwide. Through international accreditation and certification, advisory services, publications, patient safety Pathways program, and education programs, JCI works with healthcare organizations, public health agencies, and health ministries in more than 80 countries to enable and affirm the highest standards of healthcare quality and patient safety for all.
Learn more at https://www.jointcommission.org/en
About Joint Commission
Joint Commission enables and affirms the highest standards of healthcare quality and patient safety for all. Founded in 1951, it is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare, evaluating more than 23,000 healthcare organizations and programs across the United States. As an independent, nonprofit organization, Joint Commission inspires healthcare organizations across all settings to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.
Learn more at www.jointcommission.org.
About UNIFY™
UNIFY™ is Joint Commission’s premier, flagship annual conference dedicated to advancing healthcare quality, patient safety, and organizational excellence. UNIFY fosters thought leadership and amplifies key voices across the healthcare industry, uniting stakeholders to address critical challenges and shape the future of healthcare and patient safety.
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