VAMED-KMB, a company of the world's leading health care group VAMED, was honoured with Olympic Gold in Organisational Leadership 2022 - Highest recognition for 1,200 employees also for their commitment in the pandemic.

This year, the most important international prize for corporate leadership goes to the technical operator of the University Hospital AKH Vienna. In Lyon on Thursday, VAMED-KMB, a company of the world's leading healthcare group VAMED, received the EFQM Global Award. The international prize, which is awarded by EFQM after selection by a jury of experts from business and science, is considered to be the award with the strictest award criteria and thus Olympic gold for organisational and corporate management.

The award is also a recognition of the fact that VAMED-KMB's 1,200 staff kept the critical infrastructure of Austria's largest hospital running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even under the most difficult conditions during the pandemic, and even expanded it further. Previous award winners include prominent international companies such as BMW, Bosch and Infineon. Around 50,000 companies worldwide use the EFQM model. Only 15 finalists made it to the final selection for the highest award this year.

"Health care facilities are about the highest good, life. For VAMED, which has placed its work exclusively in the service of health, it is particularly important to ensure the highest level of quality, which is considered a benchmark in international comparison. The high award is at the same time an acknowledgement of our employees, whose commitment enables top medical patient care, research and teaching every day," explained Dr. Ernst Wastler, Chairman of the Executive Board of VAMED AG.

Significant contribution to universal high-quality health care

Since 1986, VAMED-KMB has been responsible for the uninterrupted technical hospital operation of the Vienna General Hospital and thus makes a significant contribution to sustainable health care for the Viennese.

For the reconstruction and ongoing modernisation of AKH Wien, VAMED-KMB is implementing numerous construction and renovation projects in 16 building areas until 2030, while the hospital continues to operate.

Recently, the child and adolescent psychiatry, the paediatric operating centre and the cardiothoracic centre, among others, were successfully expanded or newly built. Even in more than two years of pandemic, all projects of VAMED-KMB could be continued, according to the EFQM in its comprehensive assessment report.

1,742 beds, 51,000 medical devices and 16,000 building services.

The University Hospital AKH Vienna is the largest hospital in Austria and one of the best hospitals in the world. In 2021, 61,000 patients were treated as inpatients at AKH Wien and the outpatient departments were frequented 1.2 million times.

VAMED-KMB currently manages 51,000 medical devices, 16,000 building services, 1,742 beds, 48 operating theatres and 128 lifts at AKH Wien. In order to be able to meet the future requirements for medical and nursing care and the university tasks in research and teaching in the best possible way, the Vienna General Hospital will be extensively modernised and expanded by the beginning of the next decade.

VAMED-KMB has integrated the annual EFQM assessment into its contract with the City of Vienna as the legal entity of Vienna General Hospital, thereby committing itself to continuous further development. In its assessment, EFQM emphasised that the long-term partnership between the City of Vienna and VAMED-KMB has created a whole series of trend-setting process optimisations and the basis for further expansion of medical services.

EFQM praises sustainability - energy consumption reduced by a quarter

EFQM also praises VAMED-KMB's long-term planning for the future, involving all stakeholders, the motivation of its staff, the high level of satisfaction of AKH Wien's medical staff with the technical conditions, and sustainability in operations. Over the past 25 years, VAMED-KMB has reduced energy consumption at Vienna General Hospital by a quarter. As a result, 382,000 tonnes of CO2 have been avoided and costs of 114 million euros have been saved, 5 million euros of which were achieved by optimising air conditioning and using waste heat alone.

For 30 years, the EFQM Global Award has recognised outstanding private and public organisations worldwide that have an undeniable track record of implementing strategies and continuously improving their performance. In the past years, VAMED-KMB has been a Prize Winner several times - among others in the categories "Creativity and Innovation", "Customer Value" and "Success through Employees". Since 2017, VAMED-KMB has been listed in the EFQM Global Excellence Index as a "Platinum Leading Organization for Excellence". This year, VAMED-KMB received the EFQM Global Award, the highest EFQM award, for the first time.

"Receiving the Global Award for the first time is a special honour for us. It confirms our successful strategy of planning, renovating and providing technical support for a healthcare facility in an integrated and sustainable manner over its entire life cycle. The high award is also a recognition of the work we do as a long-term partner in the Viennese health care system," says Mag. Kai Ostermann, Managing Director of VAMED-KMB.

As part of the EFQM Global Award assessment process, a team of experts spent around 750 hours examining VAMED-KMB according to the strictest criteria on the basis of comprehensive documentation and on the basis of on-site interviews, assessing its strategies and progress in comparison with best-practice organisations. An independent jury of experts from business and academia in Brussels then made the final decision on the awards and the winner of the EFQM Global Award.