The International Medical Center (IMC) Infection Control & Prevention Department is recognized as a "center of excellence" among all hospitals in the private sector for the year 2020-2021. The initiative was organized by the Ministry of Heath, represented by, the general Directorate of Infection, Prevention and Control for Health Care Facilities and aimed at awarding local leading medical institutions for their exemplary infection control practices and implementation of the highest national and international quality standards. IMC's well and truly earned win came after the inclusion of KSA private hospitals for the first time in the initiative since it was launched in 2018. Assistant Minister of Health Dr. Muhammad Abdullah Al-Abdulaali recognized IMC's performance and awarded Dr. Walid Fitaihi, chairman of the board of directors & CEO, the first place in the presence of Dr. Hani Abdulaziz Jokhdar, deputy minister for Public Health, Dr. Abdullah Asiri, assistant deputy minister for Preventive Health, and Dr. Khalid Al-Anzi, drector of General Directorate of Infection, Prevention & Control for Health Care Facilities. Alongside Dr. Fitaihi, Dr. Nashaat Hamza, IMC's director of Infectious Disease Department, received a certificate of appreciation for IMC as one of the best infection control and prevention medical centers in 2021 and for the coming three years. With two brilliant Jeddah hospitals being awarded — IMC and the King Abdullah Medical Complex, Dr. Nagham Khalid Abdulrahman, manager of Health Facilities Infection Control at PHC Jeddah was awarded 'Distinction'. The initiative's first edition was launched in April 2018 followed by the second edition in January 2019. Due to the pandemic, the launch of the third edition was postponed from May 2020 until January 2021 and witnessed the private sector's first participation in this national health initiative. "IMC's win comes with a great advantage especially in this time when the world is united to fight the pandemic," said Dr. Abdullah Asiri. The initiative's infection control evaluation process used several high standards on four main categories: hospital portfolio, main infection control programs, additional infection control programs, and project 'Tamayuz'. The careful selection of IMC infection control team members was a crucial winning factor in the initiative. The team's profound expertise combines infection control of ICU, emergency, operations, sterilization, dialysis, and medical engineering. IMC's team included Dr. Firas Al-Adarnali. Eng. Hani Bahaidara, Yasser Al Ramadan, Najla Barja', Amina Ismael, and Raja' Al Sadeq. A patent by IMC Eng. Muhammed Abo Qindeel and Eng. Bahaidara was key to the high infection control evaluation. The patent was an invention of a system that transforms regular rooms into isolation rooms to help overcome the challenges imposed by the pandemic. Head of Operation Sector Abdullah Al Qathami operated the system following full coordination between Infection Control, Operations, ICU, and Emergency departments. The patent was also reviewed by experts to ensure compliance to the highest standards. The tremendous win was made possible with unlimited support by the management of IMC to Infection Control. This included utilizing potential, mitigating challenges, providing modern infrastructure and latest technologies, ensuring the safety of all medical staff, health practitioners, and patients, in addition to the heroic efforts of vaccinating over 112,000 individuals at the IMC Vaccination Center. — SG
