HMC’s Hospitality Department Receives International Accreditation

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Hospitality Department has been recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and awarded the ISO 9001:2015 certification for its quality management system. 

A quality management system is the organizational structure, responsibilities, processes, procedures, activities, capabilities, and resources that are needed to ensure patients are provided with a consistently high-quality product and service, and in turn increased levels of satisfaction.

With nine sub-departments and a corporate office, HMC’s Hospitality Department is the healthcare organization’s largest department. It offers services to all HMC hospitals and administration sites 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its scope of service, which is vital to the operation of HMC, includes shuttle bus services, laundry, photocopying, courier and mail services, security and catering.

An organization becomes ISO 9001:2015 certified by developing, documenting, and effectively implementing its quality system to meet the requirements of the standard and then successfully completing an audit by a third party registrar.

“We are glad that the Hospitality Department has been recognized by the ISO. We worked towards achieving the ISO 9001:2015 standard as a means to unify the various departmental functions and ensure high standards throughout. This is in line with HMC’s mission of ensuring all its hospitals and services meet the highest quality standards at all times. I congratulate the hospitality team for this achievement which is a demonstration of their commitment to consistently achieving the best in class industry standards for each of our hospitality services,” said Mr. Hamad Al Khalifa, HMC’s Chief of Healthcare Facilities.

In addition to providing patients, staff, and members of the public with confidence in the consistency, effectiveness and efficiency of the department’s services, key benefits of achieving the ISO 9001:2015 standard include:

• Enhanced customer satisfaction and improved customer loyalty
• Improved communication, planning and administration processes
• Flexible and fast response times
• Integration and alignment of internal processes leading to increased productivity and results
• Enhanced business performance and better cost management
• Increased credibility in the market
• Lower costs and shorter cycle times through effective use of resources

Ms. Constanze Morgenthaler, Acting Executive Director for Hospitality noted that the skilled hospitality team has gained extensive experience from both within HMC and the international hospitality industry, providing the perfect mix to meet the needs of patients, staff and members of the public.

“The Hospitality Department provides support services throughout HMC, enabling clinical teams to focus attention on their areas of expertise while contributing to the provision of the safest, most effective and most compassionate care to each of its patients. We are proud of this ISO certification, which will no doubt enable us to continuously improve on our quality management initiatives to achieve an even greater degree of success,” she added.