The Cedars-Sinai International team continues making impactful strides worldwide. Most recently, the team brought its mission of elevating the health status of communities globally to the seaside city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 47th World Hospital Congress, held by the International Hospital Federation (IHF).

A premier gathering of healthcare leaders, the World Hospital Congress brought together more than 2,000 attendees from 65 countries to exchange ideas, innovations and best practices.

Alan Dubovsky, vice president and chief patient experience officer at Cedars-Sinai, served on the World Hospital Congress’ Scientific Committee for a year leading up to the three-day event.

“It was an honor to represent Cedars-Sinai on this committee and help shape the event’s agenda. Serving with more than 40 worldwide healthcare leaders was an excellent opportunity to highlight Cedars-Sinai’s expertise and achievements,” Dubovsky explained.

The team’s presence at the World Hospital Congress paid additional dividends.

“The number of connections we made was fantastic, and it was extremely gratifying that so many international health systems were actively seeking engagement with Cedars-Sinai,” noted Dubovsky.

In fact, a large health system in Saudi Arabia expressed interest in Cedars-Sinai, which resulted in Dubovsky and Maxwell Nicholson, associate director of Patient Experience at Cedars-Sinai, presenting “Strategic Excellence–A Patient Experience Masterclass” at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the fall.

Cedars-Sinai has been an IHF member since 2021 and has attended World Hospital Congresses in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Lisbon, Portugal. Cedars-Sinai sent a six-person contingent to Rio de Janeiro, led by Heitham Hassoun, MD, chief executive, International, who moderated a panel discussion about the impact healthcare organizations have on the communities in which they operate.

Healthcare administrators and clinical leaders attended a panel discussion featuring Joyelle Sudbury, vice president and chief quality officer at Cedars-Sinai, who presented “Advancing Quality Across Cedars-Sinai Health System With a Focus on Local Program Strength.”

Sudbury said the goal of her presentation “was to support Cedars-Sinai’s position as a best-in-class healthcare system by sharing the example of how we use quality as a framework to achieve meaningful change across the enterprise.”

The Cedars-Sinai team headed to Rio de Janeiro equipped with clear goals, including demonstrating thought leadership among peers, nurturing and strengthening existing relationships, and developing and empowering young executive leaders. Arshia Yadav, a project manager at Cedars-Sinai International, embodies this latter goal.

Yadav is an alum of the IHF’s Young Executive Leaders Program. Every year, a select group of promising young healthcare executives are admitted to this program, which provides management and leadership training, along with the opportunity to network internationally. At the 2024 World Hospital Congress, Yadav presented on enhancing continuity of care and co-facilitated training workshops for the incoming class of young executive leaders.

“My main takeaway from Rio is that Cedars-Sinai now occupies a place of prominence among international patient programs. When we first started attending the World Hospital Congress, our objective was growing brand awareness. This year, it was clear Cedars-Sinai is now viewed as a top-tier program that many international health systems want to partner with,” observed Dubovsky.

Cedars-Sinai International fully intends to keep making these impactful strides worldwide.