KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital bags Healthcare Asia Awards 2019 for Employee Engagement of the Year

The hospital's influenza vaccination programme ensures its workers are protected from outbreaks.

KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital (DSH), the eighth hospital under the flagship of the KPJ Healthcare Bhd, not only cares for its patients' health but also its workers. Upon the recommendation of the the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the hospital instituted a free vaccine programme for its healthcare workers starting in 2012. The project was imperative following an outbreak of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and H1N1 influenza amongst its nursing staff in previous years.

Under the programme, DSH's healthcare workers including its doctors get free influenza vaccines annually. But ensuring all employees are vaccinated was not easy. During the first two years of its implementation, the hospital struggled to vaccinate most of its healthcare workers, with a flu vaccine uptake of 64% in 2012 and 72% uptake in 2013. DSH's infection control services took this as a challenge to improve its engagement with the hospital's workers.

The infection control services implemented an education and information campaign that has seen DSH's flu vaccine uptake consistently rise during the last five years. From 64% in 2012, flu vaccine uptake has spiked to 94% in 2014 and is at 96.5% last year. Because of this, DSH won the Healthcare Asia Awards 2019 for Employee Engagement of
the Year.

The Healthcare Asia Awards 2019 was held on May 23, 2019 at the Conrad Centennial Singapore.

This year's nominations were judged by a panel consisting of Abhay Bangi, Partner, Life Sciences & Healthcare Lead, Ernst & Young; Dr. Loke Wait Chiong Executive Director, Healthcare Sector Leader, Deloitte; Dr. Zubin Daruwalla, Director, SEAC Health Industries Leader, PwC; Chin Chee Choon, Advisory Leader, Nexia TS; and Willy Leow, Partner, Risk Advisory Services, BDO LLP.

Check out the event photos during the awards night here.

If you would like to join the 2020 awards and be awarded as one of the most outstanding healthcare companies in the region, please email Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].