Cathay General Hospital takes home 2 accolades at Healthcare Asia Awards 2026

The hospital demonstrated sustained reductions in mortality and adverse events.

Cathay General Hospital (CGH) received an accolade in the Patient Safety Initiative of the Year - Taiwan and ESG Program of the Year - Taiwan categories at the Healthcare Asia Awards 2026.

The recognition highlighted improvements in mortality, infection control, airway care, medication processes, and maternal and neonatal outcomes, supported by formal governance, multidisciplinary collaboration, and digital integration. It also spotlighted the hospital’s holistic sustainability leadership.

Patient safety initiatives

Patient safety formed part of CGH’s core organisational strategy and annual objectives. The Department of Quality Management coordinated policy planning, implementation, and monitoring across clinical and administrative units. A governance framework aligned leadership oversight with frontline participation, linking clinical operations, administrative systems, and information platforms. A non-punitive Adverse Event Reporting System encouraged incident reporting, feedback loops, and case review discussions, strengthening risk identification and organisational learning.

Team Resource Management training, introduced in collaboration with aviation industry experts, improved communication protocols and situational awareness across intensive care units, wards, and specialty departments. Structured tools such as the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System and plan-do-study-act cycles were integrated into quality improvement projects. Scenario-based simulation training supported clinical decision-making and standardised responses in high-risk environments.

Digital systems supported these efforts. Healthcare and electric system, medication prescription safety alerts, barcode-supported transfusion verification, and an electronic physician handover platform using the Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation format reduced documentation gaps and communication errors. Data automation and visual dashboards enabled continuous monitoring of approximately 900 clinical indicators, strengthening management review processes.

Clinical outcomes reflected these interventions. Mortality from severe sepsis and septic shock decreased from 28% to 9% after compliance with the sepsis resuscitation bundle increased from 0% to 93%. In intensive care units, catheter-associated urinary tract infection rates declined from 5.3‰ to 4.7‰ in medical units and from 3.6‰ to 2.8‰ in surgical units. The rate of severe injury following unplanned endotracheal tube extubation fell from 50% to 12.5%. In maternal and neonatal care, the frequency of neonatal hypothermia decreased from 57.14% to 33.3%, and infant transfer time was reduced from 320 minutes to 77 minutes, with mortality declining to 0.68%.

From carbon reduction to comprehensive wellbeing

CGH strives to build a holistic patient-centric healthcare system, guided by the sustainability pillars “climate, care, empowerment.”

In terms of energy, CGH completed ISO 14064-1:2018 greenhouse gas inventory and ISO 50001:2018 energy management systems implementation, with third-party verification. It also installed high-efficiency variable frequency chillers, reducing 695 tons of CO2e emission annually.

To address waste management, it expanded biomedical waste reuse categories in 2024, cutting 38 tons of incinerated waste yearly. The hospital’s catheterisation unit also initiated a waste reduction project to decrease waste generation, resulting in a 40% reduction in biomedical waste.

CGH promotes plant-based diets to lessen food waste. It offers further subsidies and annual vegan meal promotions, resulting in vegan meal orders reaching 88,000 in 2025 and reducing carbon emissions by approximately 176 tons CO2e.

To serve its employees and nurses, CGH offers staff activities, such as Family Day featuring sustainable activities, Taipei Dome baseball games watching, and singing contests, amongst others. It builds a holistic workplace with occupational safety, career education, mental support, work-life balance, compensation and benefits. CGH has also made efforts to comply with the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Nurse-to-Patient Ratio Program, as well as established a sustainable support system through flexible hours, diversified training resources, digital tools, and lean management.

Healthcare Asia Awards is an awards programme focused on acknowledging exceptional hospitals across Asia that redefine the standards of excellence in the healthcare industry. It proudly shines a spotlight on Asian hospitals that consistently go beyond conventional boundaries to provide top-tier patient care and have a lasting impact on their local communities.

The Healthcare Asia Awards is presented by Healthcare Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2027 awards programme and be acclaimed for your organisation's remarkable initiatives and contributions to the healthcare industry, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at [email protected].