Dr Lawrence Lai

Awards Committee Chair

Since 2018, Dr Lawrence Lai serves as the Chairman of the IHF Awards Committee. He was IHF Governing Council Member for six years before becoming an Honorary IHF Member in 2015.

Dr Lai is currently Special Advisor to the Hong Kong University-Shenzhen Hospital, Honorary Professor of the Medical Faculty, University of Hong Kong, Consultant to the Macau Health Bureau and ISQua expert.

Dr Lai has also been actively involved in the work of the Asian Hospital Federation (AHF). He was elected President for two terms and is currently member of the AHF Trust Fund.

Dr Lai received various awards during his career, including the 40th Anniversary Gold Medal by the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) and the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Government in 2009.

General Authority of Healthcare, Egypt

Dr Amir Eltelwany

First CEO

Dr Eltelwany has extensive medical, scientific and administrative experience. His studies for master’s and doctorate degrees in diagnostic radiology have enriched his abilities in scientific research and follow the scientific methodology as a way of life, which is the secret of his success.

His work in various government hospitals in both medical and administrative roles made him familiar with the details of healthcare and the reasons for the suffering of both patients and medical teams.

His work as Director of the Technical Office of the Assistant Minister of Health and Population for Monitoring and Follow-up Affairs and deputy manager of universal health insurance made him a strong leader of a team of young people keen to develop the health system in Egypt.

He took the responsibility of Egyptian healthcare reform when he was assigned as deputy director for a universal health insurance project in the Ministry of Health and then he was assigned as Executive Director of the Public Authority for Health Care, to begin his journey to achieve his vision, which is to invest in health by following medicine based on scientific evidence and using the latest technological means to reach high quality health services available to everyone who needs them.

Brazilian Hospital Federation

Dr Adelvânio F. Morato

President

Dr Morato is in his third term at the head of the Association of Hospitals of the State of Goiás, Brazil. Alongside this role, he is also President of the Brazilian Hospitals Federation (FBH), which represents more than four thousand health establishments in Brazil.

Dr Morato trained as a urologist surgeon. He later became the General Secretary of the Medical Association of the State of Goiás, and is a member of the Union of Hospitals of the State of Goiás and one of the partners of the Instituto do Rim de Goiânia.

Dr Morato became a member of the IHF Governing Council in November 2020. He is also a member of the IHF Executive Committee since January 2023.

Get to know Dr Morato, the FBH, and how international knowledge exchange can transform healthcare.

Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, USA

Barbara Walczyk-Joers

President and Chief Executive Officer

Ms Walczyk-Joers has served as President and CEO at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in Minnesota, USA since 2013.  As the USA’s first hospital dedicated to serving children who have disabilities, Gillette Children’s provides subspecialized care to children who have complex, rare or traumatic conditions affecting the performance of an individual’s musculoskeletal and neurological systems.

With more than 25 years of healthcare experience, Ms Walczyk-Joers has a focus on strategic performance and change management as well as health policy and advocacy. She has served in executive roles in a variety of pediatric and adult healthcare settings, including academic healthcare centres, community health systems, and independent children’s hospitals. Earlier in her career she also served at a professional services firm. 

A recognized thought leader in healthcare, Ms Walczyk-Joers serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Medical Alley Association and the Quality and Safety Committee of the Board of the Children’s Hospital Association. Ms Walczyk-Joers is an active participant in other organizations including the American Hospital Association and the Minnesota Rare Disease Advisory Council.

Ms Walczyk-Joers studied acute care hospital management at Marymount University and holds a Master’s in Health Services Management and Policy from George Washington University.

Elegancia Healthcare

Bassam Sayad, FACHE

Chief Venture Officer

Bassam Sayad is a board-certified Healthcare Executive with over 25 years of international experience in the healthcare field, including medical operations, healthcare strategic planning, and managing investments across markets.

Mr. Sayad serves as the Chief Ventures Officer and the former inaugural Cluster CEO of Elegencia Healthcare based out of Doha, Qatar. Elegencia Healthcare is working with international partners such as Cedars Sinai Medical in Los Angles, USA, to establish world class healthcare facilities in Doha and the region. Prior to that, Mr. Sayad served as the first General Manager and member of the board of Clemenceau Medical Center in Dubai (CMC- Dubai). CMC-Dubai is part of the Johns Hopkins affiliated Clemenceau Medicine International (CMI) network of hospitals in Beirut, Riyad and Dubai. Prior to joining CMC – Dubai, Mr. Sayad was part of Dubai-based private equity TVM – Capital, as Chief Operating Officer and member of the executive committee of the board of its portfolio company Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center. As company COO, select key responsibilities included: Providing strategic direction to integrate operational processes across the platform; Developing and leading strategic framework for service line and market expansion; Directing the outpatient services, increasing patient visits & revenue; Developing and overseeing CMRC’s Patient Experience Program; Leading CMRC’s international partnership with European rehabilitation center; Developing and leading CMRC’s strategic technology roadmap including selection and implementation of EMR.

Prior to relocating to the region, his tenure with Johns Hopkins Medical System in the USA and Johns Hopkins Medicine International extended over 20 years with leadership roles including Managing Director of Global Services for the Middle East and North Africa region, Director of Pathology and Laboratory services, as well as Faculty Associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Planning.  Additional leadership roles included Chief Executive Officer of Al Noor Hospital, Khalifa branch in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where he drove the strategic turn-around plan and oversaw the hospital’s system integration strategy with an enhanced clinical model and a master facility plan.

Mr. Sayad is a board-certified Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and President of the organization’s Middle East North Africa group.

Portuguese Association for Hospital Development (APDH)

Prof. Carlos Pereira Alves

President

Prof. Carlos Pereira Alves serves as the President of the Board of the Portuguese Association for Hospital Development (APDH) since 2016. He also represents Portugal as Governor of the HOPE Board of Governors of the European Federation of Hospitals. From 2011 to 2015, he also represented Portugal as an elected member of the IHF Governing Council.

Prof. Alves is a General and Vascular Surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

He held various roles, such as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Subgroup Hospitalar Capuchos/Desterro – Arroios de (1997 to 2004), Head of the Surgery Service of the Hospital de Santo António dos Capuchos, Lisbon, Director of Surgery at the Hospital de Santo António dos Capuchos (2004-2012).

Prof. Alves is also an author of several published medical papers and vein diseases chapters in the book “Patologia Cirúrgica” the Portuguese surgical book published by McGraw Hill.

International Health Services Group, USA
Jackson Healthcare, USA

Charles R. Evans, FACHE

President
Senior Advisor

Charles R. Evans is President of the International Health Services Group (IHSG) and Senior Advisor at Jackson Healthcare.  IHSG is a social enterprise he founded in 2007 to support health services development in underserved areas of the world.  Current projects are located in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.  IHSG also founded and supports the Leadership Corps for management capacity building.  Finally, IHSG is active in encouraging international hospital partnerships between US hospitals and hospitals in economically developing countries.

Jackson Healthcare is a family of highly specialized healthcare staffing, executive search and technology companies.

Evans serves as a member of the boards at Jackson Healthcare, WellStreet Urgent Care and Arena.  Additionally, he serves on the boards of non-profit organizations including FaithBridge Foster Care and is chairman of the American International Health Alliance.

In 2012, he attained the Board Leadership Fellow credential of the National Association of Corporate Directors. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE); served as a Governor of the College from 2004 – 2007; Chairman Officer from 2008 – 2011; and was the recipient of the 2014 ACHE Gold Medal Award – the highest honor the organization bestows.  He currently serves as Special Advisor to ACHE on International Affairs, and is an Honorary Member of the International Hospital Federation.

GS1

Claire Clarke

Director of Healthcare Engagement

Claire’s passion is to ensure that patients receive the best healthcare possible. Healthcare systems need support to eliminate errors and using global standards can help in achieving this. Claire is a senior nurse leader with over 25 years of experience within the healthcare system, leading teams within complex organizations. Within these organizations, Claire has led transformational business change that has delivered excellent business performance along with outstanding care delivery. Claire prides herself on enabling an open environment for teams to drive innovation, accountability, and professional integrity.

Boston Medical Center, USA

Connie Packard

Senior Director and Chief of Public Safety, Control Center, Parking & Transportation Services

Connie currently serves as an Incident Commander for Emergency Management and crisis response.  For the past thirty-four years, she has overseen healthcare security for the medical center, which includes the medical center and formerly Boston University Schools of Graduate Studies in Medical, Dental Medicine, and School of Public Health.  Boston Medical Center is the primary teaching affiliate for Boston University and a level one-trauma center.  She has over thirty-nine years’ experience in security and public safety work in both the public and private sectors.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Salve Regina University and a Master of Science from Boston University. She is currently the President for International Association in Healthcare Safety and Security (IAHSS).

Vizient, USA

David Levine

Group SVP, Advanced Analytics and Data Science

Blending clinical leadership and informatics experience, David is responsible for driving key initiatives for Vizient, including growing the Center for Advanced Analytics, leading the development of risk-adjustment methodologies and increasing engagement of physicians and other clinicians. The Center brings together analytics from multiple clinical and operational offerings to provide insights to members across the continuum of care. David joined the company in 2010 after serving as medical director of the emergency department at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. He also served as a physician leader for information technology. David earned a doctor of medicine degree from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. He is an Assistant Professor of emergency medicine at Rush Medical School in Chicago and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Latifa Hospital, Dubai, UAE

Professor Fadi Mirza

Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecologist & Consultant Maternal Fetal Medicine
Medical Director & Director of Obstetrics Department

Dr Mirza is also a Clinical Professor at Mohammed Bin Rashid University and an adjunct faculty at Columbia University in New York, United States of America.

He received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon before he relocated to the United States of America for post-graduate training. He completed a four-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts University in Boston. He then pursued a three-year fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at Columbia University in New York. He subsequently became certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) in both Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal Fetal Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

At an administrative level, he serves as the Medical Director of Latifa Women and Children Hospital in Dubai, in addition to serving as the Director of its Obstetrics Department. He has also previously held a number of senior positions at the American University of Beirut Medical Center; most notably, he served as the Founding Director of the Clinical Practice Improvement Program of the hospital and as Co-Chairperson of its Patient Safety Council. He was also the Chairperson of the hospital’s Credentialing and Privileging Committee. He had previously served as the Director of Medical Staff Affairs. In these senior roles, he worked closely with the hospital’s leadership and various departments as well as with the Joint Commission International (JCI) and its surveyors on a number of initiatives and site visits.

Saudi Commission For Health Specialties, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Dr Hussain Abdullah Alhussain

Executive Director of Accreditation

Dr. Hussain serves as the Executive Director of Accreditation at the SCFHS, developing the SCFHS Accreditation Strategy, System, Standards and Surveyors; aiming to assure SCFHS Accreditation Function continuing to develop and innovate, leading to the National Excellence in Postgraduate Health Professions’ Training, having Saudi Arabia well placed globally among the top five Postgraduate Health Professions’ Training Systems.

The SCFHS Accreditation Function oversees and assures compliance to the Institutional and Programs Accreditation Standards by Healthcare Institutions that are executing Medical, Surgical, Dental, Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Postgraduate Health Professional Training Programs (Higher Diplomas, General Spe

Saudi German Hospital, Egypt

Dr Ibrahim Ellakany

Chief Quality Officer

Dr Ibrahim Ellakany is a healthcare quality expert who has diverse healthcare knowledge and experience. He currently holds the position of Chief Quality Officer at Saudi German Hospital Egypt. With wide experience in healthcare quality as well as administration, Dr Ellakany's previous positions include quality director at Saudi German Hospital Aseer, and acting quality and patient safety manager at Saudi German Hospital Al Madinah Al Munawarah.

Dr Ellakany was selected by the National Association of Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) as a poster presenter for the 38 NAHQ annual conference (Triple Crown of Quality) which was conducted in Louisville, KY, USA, 6–9 October 2013.

Dr Ellakany was a speaker in many symposiums conducted on infection control and quality improvement in SGH Asser, SGH Jeddah, and Cairo.

Dr Ellakany was selected by General Authority for Healthcare Accreditation and Regulation to be an Administrative Surveyor.

Joint Commission International

Dr Joel Roos

Vice President

Dr Joel Roos is the Vice President of International Accreditation, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety for Joint Commission International (JCI). In this role, Dr Roos is responsible for developing and leading the overall strategic direction of JCI’s accreditation and certification programs. Dr Roos provides oversight in updating and developing new international accreditation standards as well as leading efforts to enhance the international accreditation process.

Throughout his career, Dr Roos has been dedicated to improving patient safety and quality of care for active military personnel and veterans across the country. Most recently, Dr Roos was Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Quality, Safety and Value at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Washington, D.C. While in the Navy, he conducted numerous engagements and created partnerships across the Asia-Indo-Pacific region, that include Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Australia, China and India.

Dr Roos earned his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; an MBA in healthcare management from Brenau University, Gainesville, Georgia; and an MS in healthcare delivery science from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Dr Roos also completed his training in undersea medicine at the US Navy Undersea Medical Institute.

Dr Roos became a member of the IHF Governing Council in November 2021.

Mollet Health Foundation, La Unió, Spain

Dr Juan M. Ferrer

Director of Quality, Education and Research

Dr Ferrer is Doctorate in Medicine (PhD) from the University of Barcelona, Preventive Medicine & Public Health specialist, and MBA from ESADE Business School, completed with the Health Policy and Management Program at the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He also has a Diploma in Quality Methodology and Evaluation from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

He joined Fundació Sanitària de Mollet in 2016 as the Director of Quality, Education and Research. He has been Director of Catalan Foundation of Hospital (2009-2016) a health providers’ organization member of IHF, that associates 120 health providers in Catalonia, and served the Alliance for Patient Safety in the Ministry of Health of Catalonia (2008-2010), coordinating patient safety national projects. He worked as Medical Director Assistant at Mútua de Terrassa University Hospital in Barcelona (1992-1999). Since 2011 he is engaged in international accreditation as physician surveyor for Joint Commission International in Chicago, with experience in accreditation in Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific institutions. He is also associate Professor of Universidad Internacional de Cataluña in Barcelona, Spain.

Vizient, USA

Julie L. Cerese

Group Senior Vice President, Member Connections, Networks and Performance Management

Julie is the Group Senior Vice President at Vizient and leads the member connections experience including networking, performance improvement benchmarking and collaborative and member training and education. In this role, she works with colleagues to support members to achieve their quality, safety, cost and market performance goals.

Having begun her career in nursing, Cerese has focused on clinical quality and performance improvement. She has conducted studies on the unique factors that differentiate top performers and has supported nursing and physician leaders to achieve their goals. Cerese has a keen interest in interprofessional education and collaboration.

Julie holds a doctorate and also a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing.

Kwong Wah Hospital, Hospital Authority of Hong Kong

Dr Kam-shing Tang

Hospital Chief Executive

Dr Tang graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong in 1993. He joined the Hospital Authority (HA) of Hong Kong in 1994 and had worked in many clinical departments during his postgraduate training. He was awarded fellowship status by the Hong Kong College of Physicians in Internal Medicine, Respiratory Medicine and Critical Care Medicine in 2001, 2002 and 2005 respectively.  In 2012, Dr Tang was appointed as Service Director (Quality & Safety) of New Territories West Cluster of Hospital Authority and subsequently many healthcare management roles in HA.

Dr Kwang Tae Kim

Honorary Member

During his IHF presidency (2013–2015), Dr Kim initiated the IHF Awards Programme to promote the IHF’s visibility and its role as a knowledge hub.

Dr Kim trained as a general surgeon before moving into healthcare administration. He was elected President of the Asian Hospital Federation (2008–2009) and President of the Korean Hospital Association (2003–2004). Since 1969, he has served as Chairman of Daerim Saint Mary’s Hospital, Republic of Korea.

Alongside his healthcare roles, Dr Kim demonstrates his dedication to the community through over 40 years of Rotary Club membership. He served on Rotary International’s Board of Directors from 2005 to 2007.

Dr Kim enjoys wide recognition from the Korean government for his services to healthcare.

Polish Hospital Federation

Ligia Kornowska

Managing Director

Ligia is responsible for issues with medical data (access to medical data, data protection, cybersecurity) and innovations in healthcare, i.e. AI, AR, blockchain technology. She is also the co-founder and President of the Board of the “Donate your Data” Foundation.

General Directorate of Hospital Affairs - Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Maha Alqasem

Co-Chair of the Hospital Commissioning Unit

Ms Maha is the co-Chair of the Hospital Commissioning Unit with responsibility for key initiatives within the General Directorate of Hospital Affairs in the Ministry of Health.

She started her career in the Ministry as a medical secretary in general administration for forensic medicine and advanced with experiences in different administrations within the Ministry. She has extensive skills in human and time management.

Philippine Hospital Association

Dr Maria Lourdes K. Otayza

Director

Dr Maria Lourdes K. Otayza is currently the Chair of Region 1 Health Research and Development Consortium (R1HRDC) and the Philippine National Health Research System - Research Management Committee (PNHRS-RMC). She is also an associate fellow at the Australasian College of Health Service Management and a fellow of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and the Philippine Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Dr Otayza is a recipient of various recognitions including the Outstanding Filipino Physician Awardee in 2021, Gawad Career Executive Services (CES) Awardee in 2017, Most Outstanding Ilocano Awardee in 2016, Civil Service Commission Pag-asa Awardee in 2016, and was the Dr Jose P. Rizal Gawad Karangalan Awardee from the Philippine Medical Association in 2012.

Emirates Health Services, UAE

Dr Noor Al Mehiri

Director of Mental Health Department

Dr Noor Majed Al Mheiri is the Director of the mental health department and the visiting consultant programme in Emirates Health Services. Previously, she led the medical services unit in the hospitals department (2016-2020). She is a graduate of the UAE University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences obtaining her MBBS in 2010 and graduated with honour, ranking in the top of the Dean's list.

She is a consultant family physician who completed her Arab Board Medical Specialization in Family Medicine in 2016. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and Royal collage of General practitioner (MRCGP). She has completed a Master in Health Care Management at the Royal Collage of Surgeon Ireland (RCSI) and graduated with First class honours (2014). In 2020, She got her Public Innovation Diploma from Mohammed Bin Rashid Center for government innovation in partnership with Cambridge University. She is a graduate of the Future leadership programme with the Prime Minister's Office (2021). She has led a number of clinical projects in EHS hospitals such as newborn screening, telemedicine outpatient service, community mental health, and clinical excellence and accreditation programes. She played a vital role in COVID response strategy and the COVID vaccination clinical trials in EHS.

Healthcare Financial Management Association

Richard Gundling

Senior Vice President, Healthcare Financial Practices

As Senior Vice President, Healthcare Financial Practices, Rick is responsible for overseeing HFMA’s technical, professional development and content direction, leading the organization’s Washington DC activities, and managing the association’s thought leadership efforts. Results of HFMA’s policy initiatives have been used by healthcare organizations, rating agencies, regulatory agencies, congressional committees, accounting standard setting bodies, state hospital organizations, and other government and industry leaders. Rick also serves as staff liaison to the HFMA Principles and Practices Board and has written an extensive number of published articles on broad topics within healthcare finance and the healthcare industry.

Prior to joining HFMA, Rick worked at the National Hospital for Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation in many leadership roles. In addition, he was Budget and Reimbursement Analyst for Prince William Hospital Corporation and served as Controller at the Visiting Nurse Association of Northern Virginia. Rick is a Fellow of HFMA, a Certified Management Accountant, and a member of the Institute of Management Accountants.

American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL)
American Hospital Association (AHA)

Dr Robyn Begley

Chief Executive Officer
Chief Nursing Officer, SVP of Workforce

In her role at AONL, Dr Begley leads a membership organization of more than 10,000 nurse leaders whose strategic focus is excellence in nursing leadership. She oversees a number of key initiatives involving workforce, quality and safety, and future care delivery models. In addition, she works collaboratively with the AHA to ensure the perspective and needs of nurse leaders are heard and addressed in public policy issues related to nursing and patient care.

Dr Begley previously served in leadership roles for various state nursing and professional nursing organizations. She has more than 40 years of experience in healthcare and has received numerous awards, including the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Nursing’s Visionary Leader Award. She earned her D.N.P. at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, obtained her M.S.N. at Widener University, Chester, PA, and received her B.S.N. at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing class of 2020.

University of Colorado Denver, USA

Roger Japp

Director of Executive MBA in Health Administration

Roger has been actively involved in healthcare and healthcare education for the past 30 years, working with rural and urban healthcare systems.  He has also served as a consultant for the Ministry of Health in Vietnam providing educational and consultation services for the country’s emergency medical services system.

Mediker, Kazakhstan

Rozaliya Buzhumova

Director for Business Development

Rozaliya has experience in the medical business of Kazakhstan for about eight years.

She has higher legal education and a degree in management business administration in healthcare. The Director of Business Development's role includes developing and implementing strategies aimed at enhancing efficiency and expanding Mediker's business. Rozaliya is in charge of identifying new growth opportunities for the company, analyzing the market and competitors, and managing partnerships and client relationships. Determining important objectives and success criteria, creating project implementation plans, allocating resources, and ensuring that they are implemented on schedule and within budget are all her duties.

Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC), Jordan

Salma Jaouni

CEO

Ms Jaouni is the CEO of the Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) since May 2012, the Arab region’s only independent not-for-profit organization that aims at improving the quality of health and social care services and promoting safer care through accreditation and consultation. Ms Jaouni has led HCAC into a regionally and internationally recognized institution, growing its impact on improving care and advocating for patient safety.

Ms Jaouni served previously as the Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of Jordan on public and social policy; leading the Prime Minister’s agenda on health and education improvement, social development, youth engagement, and public sector reform. She was also the founding director and four-year manager of the Jordan Breast Cancer Program focusing on raising awareness, setting the guidelines, and driving breast cancer screening. Ms Jaouni has a wide range of experience consulting on strategy, policy, and operations working with Booz Allen Hamilton and holding key positions with World Bank and USAID-funded projects.

She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Systems Management from the School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, and a Bachelor of Sciences degree from the American University of Beirut in environmental health. She serves on several Board of Government and non-profit institutions.

Ministry of Health, Oman

Dr Sami Al Farsi

Director General, Royal Hospital

Dr Sami Al Farsi is a Senior Consultant Paediatric Emergency, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Hospital, which serves as the apex tertiary-level referral centre for Oman, and where he oversaw the launch of several centres attached to the Royal Hospital.

Dr Sami joined the Royal Hospital in 1999 as a paediatric resident. He did fellowships in paediatric emergency in the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada and in paediatric intensive care in the Children Hospital of Western Ontario, London Ontario. After returning to Oman, he worked as a paediatric emergentologist, paediatric intensivist and was the head of the paediatric emergency unit until 2012.

Since 2010, he became deputy Director then Director of the child health department at the Royal Hospital, and Director General of the Royal Hospital. He is also involved in multiple committees at Royal Hospital, Ministry of Health and Oman Medical Specialty Board (OMSB).

He joined the IHF Governing Council in January 2023 for the remainder of Oman's term. He is also a member of the IHF Audit and Finance Committee.

Japan Hospital Association

Dr Satoru Komatsumoto

Advisor

Dr Komatsumoto is advisor of the Japan Hospital Association (JHA) and the Director Emeritus of Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital, Tochigi, Japan.

Dr Komatsumoto trained as a Medical Doctor at the Keio University School of Medicine in Tokyo. Later in his career he graduated with an MBA from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University. He spent time abroad working at the University of Pennsylvania for two years before returning to Japan to take up the position of Chief Physician in the Department of Neurology at Keio University.

Dr Komatsumoto was the Director of Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital from 2008 to 2021 and oversaw the construction of the new, award-winning hospital that opened in 2011. Alongside this role, he is a clinical professor at universities in Japan.

Dr Komatsumoto joined the IHF Governing Council in November 2019.

Nikken Sekkei, Japan

Shiro Tsukami

Engineering Director

Specialized in Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Tsukami has been working as a Mechanical Engineer since 1997, mainly in Healthcare and Hospital projects.

Mr. Tsukami has been working mostly on projects considering with energy & water saving system and BCP.

He has obtained several recognitions for sustainable design and development of energy saving system. He was part of the team that enabled the Ashikaga Red Cross Hospital to win the IHF Awards in 2019.

Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan

Dr Wui-Chiang Lee

Deputy Superintendent

An acclaimed gastroenterologist and quality expert in Taiwan, Dr Lee also joined Johns Hopkins University and earned a PhD (2005) and MHS (2002) from Bloomberg School of Public Health. He assumed top-ranked positions, such as CEO of the Joint Commission of Taiwan (2011-2013), Director-General of the Department of Medical Affairs, Ministry of Health and Welfare (2013-2014), President of the Asian Society for Quality in Health Care, and an institutionalBoard member and Chair of the Education Committee of International Society for Quality in Health Care from 2013 to 2017. Dr Lee has been dedicated to quality improvement, patient safety, and the digital transformation of Taiwan’s medical services for more than 20 years. He initiated the Smart Hospital Campaign in 2014, also engaged in many digital transformation projects of Taipei Veterans General Hospital since 2017 and joined the government plans on a national level. Dr Lee received the Johns Hopkins University “2021 Distinguished Alumnus Award” for his outstanding performance in SARS and COVID-19 pandemic control.