Semmelweis University’s Heart Centre has been voted Hospital of the Year in an online poll conducted by Házipatika.com. Voted on by the patients themselves, the clinic received high scores in all five categories (professional physician care; nursing and professional staff; infrastructure; medical care; and hospital environment and cleanliness).
At the awards ceremony, Dr. Béla Merkely, director of the Heart Centre, said that the positive feedback received from patients during their everyday medical activities is what gives him and his staff the greatest strength to do their work. He stressed, however, that the award is equally meant for Semmelweis University, which, as Hungary’s leading health care institution, supports the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. “This is an area where, if the patients come to us in time, we have many possibilities for saving their lives and ensuring their full recovery,” Dr. Béla Merkely said. The director also noted that, although 2012 was not an easy year for the sector, the number of heart transplants tripled at the Heart Centre and, three weeks ago, they performed the second successful permanent artificial heart implant.
More than forty thousand individuals submitted an online vote in the five aforementioned categories over the course of the two-month-long voting period, which concluded in the middle of December last year. Bács-Kiskun County Hospital in Kecskemét finished in second place, while the Kátai Gábor Hospital-Clinic in Karcag earned a third place standing.
In addition to the aggregate results, winners were announced in the individual categories as well. Veszprém county’s Csolnoky Ferenc Hospital achieved the best results in the professional physician care category. Dr. Ágoston Szél, rector of Semmelweis University, presented the award to Hospital Director Jenő Rácz. In his laudation, Dr. Ágoston Szél emphasised: those voting in the professional physician care category clearly also evaluated how the doctors treat, interact and communicate with their patients. The Csolnoky Ferenc Hospital’s motto – “The patient’s salvation is the supreme law” – is an excellent hallmark of this. He added: It is at the heart of medical training at the university to ensure that, despite all difficulties, future doctors will be able to carry out their work at a suitably high standard. Over the course of the training, it is of utmost importance to maintain a balance between theory and clinical practice.
This occasion marks the eighth time that HáziPatika.com has organised the Hospital of the Year competition. Róbert Pilling, the portal’s managing editor, emphasised: what makes this initiative unique, is that it allows the patients to directly give their opinion on the medical institutions where they had been treated.
Pálma Dobozi
Translated by Gina Varga-Gönczi
Photos by Balázs D. Kiss
