Awards and Achievements
In June 2015., The International Certification Association (ICERTIAS) announced that the St. Catherine Specialty Hospital won the top-Quality medal (QUDAL - QUality meDAL), along with award for the best private hospital in the Republic of Croatia, which is all according to the patient’s opinion and judgement. It is also worth mentioning that ICERTIAS was using CAWI – DEEPMA (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing – Deep Mind Awareness) methods during the studies in order to analyze and examine all the received data.
In November 2015, Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia announced that the St. Catherine Specialty Hospital becomes “Scientific Center of Excellence for the Personalized Medicine in the Republic of Croatia” as a part of Consortium that includes the top healthcare and scientific institutions in country and such field.
In July 2016, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital achieved the status of "Croatia Superbrands 2016" in the category of medicine as one of the strongest and most successful brands in that year, recognizable for its quality and reliability, and behind the Superbrands project, whose headquarter is in the United Kingdom, stands 20 years of successful operations in 88 countries around the world.
In 2017, for the second year in a row, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital became a member of International ICERTIAS Customers’ Friend programme – “Because we care about our customers”, which confirms exceptionally high quality standards of business and relations with their clients and employees. Only companies that have been proven to provide exemplary relations in the market towards their clients and customers can access the ICERTIAS Customers' Friend certification program.
In April 2017, St. Catherine was awarded with the “Best Hospital Award” for the strong position at the national market and in international sector ratings, successful implementation of modern management technologies, staff excellence and the efficient marketing strategy. Mrs. Jadranka Primorac, Chief Executive Officer and Operational Director of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was honoured as a “Manager of the Year” by the Europe Business Assembly, Oxford, UK.
During the "IMTJ Medical Travel Summit" in Opatija in April 2017, the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ), a leading online medical tourism magazine, awarded the St. Catherine Specialty Hospital an award for excellence and innovation in medical tourism. St. Catherine was named „The Best International Specialty Hospital of the Year", all in accordance with the assessments of international independent experts in medical travel and medical tourism.
In May 2017, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was selected among the top 10 European companies in the category of „The Award for Customer Focus“ at the European Business Awards, for its business success and excellence, innovation and ethics in business. St. Catherine Specialty Hospital has been selected among 34,000 businesses that have been involved in this prestigious competition. St. Catherine Specialty Hospital has also won the status of the "National Champion for the Republic of Croatia in The European Business Awards".
In October 2017, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital became the holder of the prestigious Global Healthcare Accreditation, which means that she meets high clinical standards of excellence and quality in the provision of health services according to the highest international standards. This accreditation was the first of its kind awarded in Europe. Furthermore, St. Catherine became a member of "The Leading Hospitals of the World", thus joining the list of rare European health institutions that have been awarded this prestigious certification. The certificate was awarded to hospitals for their excellence in various areas of work, primarily in the quality of service provision, staff expertise, etc.
In March 2018, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was awarded „The Entrepreneurs for the Centuries“ award and recognition for its contribution to the development of entrepreneurship in Central and Southeastern Europe. The explanatory note of the award stated that this award was given to St. Catherine Hospital because, through its activities and projects in the field of social engagement, it has particularly contributed to the promotion of entrepreneurship and its importance for economic and social development.
At the end of 2018, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was awarded the award for the best practice in corporate social responsibility in the area of "Caring for the Community".
In April 2019, at the ceremony of the County Committee in Donja Stubica on the occasion of the Krapina-Zagorje County Day, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was presented with the Krapina-Zagorje County Plaque for its contribution to the reputation and promotion of the county in the country and the world.
In December 2019, during the “Zlatna Kuna” award ceremony, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was presented with a special award "Recognition for Excellence, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Healthcare”.
In October 2022, as part of the 10th Crikvenica International Health Tourism Conference, the St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was awarded a recognition in health tourism. The Organizing Committee of the CIHT Conference decided to award the recognition to St. Catherine Hospital because, with many years of work, she has undoubtedly and greatly contributed to the development of health tourism in Croatia and strongly positions the healthcare system of the Republic of Croatia on the world map. This is the result of the synergy of knowledge, reflection and experience of all employees of the Hospital, and special thanks go to our patients.
In December 2022, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital has earned the most significant global accreditation in the field of healthcare "Gold Seal of Approval®", by the world's leading accreditation institution in the field of healthcare, the Joint Commission International (JCI). Thus, St. Catherine became the first and only healthcare institution in Croatia accredited by the JCI. JCI attested that St. Catherine Specialty Hospital works in accordance with the most excellent global healthcare standards, both in the provision of healthcare and in the area of patient safety. The JCI accreditation procedure lasts several years and represents the highest accreditation standard in healthcare. It is extremely demanding, both from the healthcare, financial, technological and professional aspects and objectively shows the state of individual healthcare institutions. As a result, this is why only the most excellent healthcare institutions decide to start the process of obtaining JCI accreditation, but once an institution is awarded the "Gold Seal of Approval®" by the JCI, it joins the short list of elite hospitals and strongly promotes its institution and home country. JCI constantly supervises accredited institutions and repeats the re-accreditation procedure every three years. The work of the JCI places an emphasis on the criteria of excellence in the provision of health care, which includes the evaluation of interdisciplinary and comprehensive patient care with a special emphasis on anesthesia and surgical procedures, the evaluation of therapy prescribing practices, an evaluation of the hospital IT system management, especially medical documentation, the evaluation of prevention and control infection, evaluation of the security management system, evaluation of facility management, evaluation of the knowledge of employees and their professional competences, evaluation of the work of the hospital administration, etc. Exceptional attention is paid to the area of patient safety, which includes prevention, early detection, elimination and improved protection for patients and personnel against unwanted events during the health care process.
In December 2024, in the large hall of Matrix Croatica, St. Catherine Hospital was awarded the first award for business communication in the Republic of Croatia – EPL Award 2024 – which is granted for the excellence in business communication and the positive contribution made during 2024, based on managed and strategically led communication. Among the 52 finalists, a jury consisting of 15 distinguished experts from various communication industries selected seven winners in six categories, and in the category of medium-sized entrepreneurs, the award went to the Marketing and Communication team of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital.
In December 2025, three years after obtaining JCI accreditation, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital was again objectively evaluated based on a series of excellence criteria and more than a thousand measurable elements by a trained team of JCI surveyors (physicians, nurses and health administrators), and successfully passed its first JCI reaccreditation procedure, which once again confirmed that our hospital meets and operates in accordance with the highest international standards of medical practice and quality in the areas of patient safety, patient health care provision, as well as work organization management. With this procedure, our hospital was reaccredited for a new period of three years, after which the JCI reaccreditation procedure will be repeated. That is of particular importance for foreign patients coming to St. Catherine Hospital, as it guarantees high-quality health care, excellence in work and safety when carrying out all medical procedures in accordance with global health standards and guidelines.
