Dubai Health Earns JCI Enterprise Accreditation Across Its Integrated Academic Health System, Recognizing Its Commitment to International Standards and Elevating Patient Experience

Dubai Health has announced that it has earned Joint Commission International (JCI) enterprise accreditation across its integrated academic health system, recognizing its commitment to the highest international standards of healthcare quality across its institutional and academic operations, as well as its hospitals, contributing to an elevated patient experience.

Dubai Health has become the first integrated academic health system in the UAE to earn this accreditation, widely regarded as a global benchmark for healthcare quality and patient safety. The accreditation follows a rigorous evaluation by JCI, which assessed Dubai Health's central administrative functions against 149 standards, achieving 100% compliance. Its medical education and hospital operations also demonstrated exceptional performance, attaining 99.7% compliance rate across 1,170 standards.

At the institutional level, the assessment covered quality and performance improvement, governance and leadership, as well as system alignment and integration. At the academic and hospital levels, the evaluation assessed standards related to patient-centred care, patient safety, medical education and professional training, reflecting the maturity of Dubai Health's model and the seamless integration of care, learning and discovery. 

This also marks the first time that all five Dubai Health hospitals; Rashid Hospital, Dubai Hospital, Hatta Hospital, Latifa Hospital, and Al Jalila Children's Hospital, have undergone the JCI Academic Medical Center (AMC) accreditation survey simultaneously, successfully achieving accreditation. 

This achievement builds on the five hospitals’ continued commitment to quality and patient safety, having previously received JCI accreditation over the years.

Dr. Amer Sharif, CEO of Dubai Health and President of Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) said: "As the first integrated academic health system in the UAE to receive JCI enterprise accreditation, we are proud to see our collective efforts acknowledged across our hospitals, academic and institutional operations. This milestone reinforces our commitment to continuous improvement and to creating better experiences and outcomes for the patients and communities we serve."
He added: "I extend my sincere appreciation to all our teams whose dedication made this possible. This success represents another step in our journey to advance health for humanity and further position Dubai and the UAE at the forefront of healthcare quality and institutional excellence."

Dr. Hanan Al Suwaidi, Deputy CEO and Chief Academic Officer of Dubai Health and Provost of MBRU, said: "Achieving JCI AMC accreditation reflects how closely medical education and healthcare delivery are connected across Dubai Health. It also highlights the quality of our education and clinical training programs, and our academic approach that brings together care, learning, and discovery. This integration enables us to nurture future healthcare professionals who contribute to advancing the standards of care."

Global Benchmark
Dr. Entesar Al Hammadi, Chair of Patient Safety and Quality at Dubai Health, said: "At Dubai Health, quality and patient safety are embedded in everything we do. Achieving internationally recognized accreditations reflects our ongoing focus on continuous improvement across our institutional, academic, and clinical operations. It also reinforces our ability to deliver consistent, safe care and ensure our healthcare system remains aligned with global best practices."

She added: "We pursued JCI accreditation because it is recognized globally as a benchmark for quality and patient safety. The accreditation process helped align practices across our healthcare and academic facilities and provided valuable opportunities to benchmark our performance against international standards. This achievement reflects our culture of continuous improvement and supports our mission to advance patient safety practices, in line with our “Patient First" promise.”

The Gold Seal of Approval 
JCI is one of the world's leading healthcare accreditation bodies. Its Gold Seal of Approval® is widely recognized as a symbol of excellence in healthcare quality and patient safety.
JCI accreditation involves a rigorous evaluation process that assesses how healthcare organizations deliver care, ensure patient safety, and continuously improve their services. Its standards help create safer healthcare environments, promote consistency in care delivery, support better patient outcomes, and elevates patient experience across healthcare systems.