44th World Hospital Congress closes
The event was held in Barcelona following its postponement last year
The 44th World Hospital Congress closed last week, following a challenging year which saw the event, originally due to be held in 2021, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The event, held in Barcelona between 8 and 11 November, is intended to enable the healthcare community to share knowledge and good practices, exchange new ideas and innovations, and network with other senior executives.
The event was the first WHC to offer a fully hybrid experience, with the event being attended by over 1,200 in-person attendees alongside 300 online delegates from over 70 countries.
Programme highlights included:
- An opening ceremony keynote address by Dr Hans Kluge, Regional Director for Europe of the World Health Organization, in which he expressed his respect for the commitment of healthcare workers during the pandemic
- The launch of a new Special Interest Group on created by the International Hospital Federation in partnership with Deloitte, to support healthcare leaders in taking action on climate change
- The announcement of the winners of the 2021 IHF awards
- An ideas exchange between public health leaders and hospital CEOs in Europe and North America on ‘getting ready for the next global pandemic’
- A virtual presentation from Vaccinations Coordinator at the White House/USG, Dr Bechara Choucair
- Key stakeholders from industry, government and public health shared lessons to learn from accelerating research, development and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine
- New IHF President Deborah Bowen began her role as President of the IHF at the Closing Ceremony
- Leaders in nursing outlined their critical contribution to transforming healthcare during a worldwide pandemic
- A European-focused session explored ways to adopt, implement and scale up the organisational and technological innovations to come from the pandemic.
The next WHC will take place in Dubai (UAE) on 9–11 November 2022.