IASO was named Best Hospital in Greece at the Healthcare Business Awards 2020. It also won another 7 awards along with IASO Children’s Hospital for its innovative and groundbreaking healthcare services, the IASO Children’s Hospital comprehensive pediatric check-up media campaign, and its By your Side Corporate Social Responsibility program.

Ms Christina Tampourea, IASO Group Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), noted, “For yet another year, IASO Group has won people over. We feel truly honored and grateful. It is the teamwork of the administrative, nursing and medical staff and their hard work that is rewarded through this process. It is not a coincidence that we were able to be nominated in all the categories and even more so to have been distinguished in all of them. It is not a coincidence to have been named Best Hospital. We are very proud of our work in all areas which promote what we hold most dear, our Health, and, of course, our sense of social responsibility, especially in such difficult times.”

The awards in detail

IASO Group won the Gold Award for its By your Side comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility program, which meets the healthcare needs of our vulnerable fellow citizens in practice. Since 2015, the program has been supporting and cooperating with more than 20 NGOs and Associations and has carried out more than 3,400 pro bono surgeries, and free of charge deliveries, medical tests and consultations. On every World Health Day, the Group has been standing by the side of society with 118 offers and actions, and has held more than 125 informative speeches on healthcare for the general public. Note that IASO is a Volunteer Bone Marrow Donor Center, supporting the ORAMA ELPIDAS Association.

IASO won the Silver Award in the category for leading innovation in Obstetrics, Gynecology and IVF. Treatment of placenta percreta demands surgical experience and specialization, together with massive blood transfusion to compensate for massive bleeding during surgery. For the first time in Obstetrics/Gynecology in Greece, the Cell Saver Autotransfusion System is being used during surgery at IASO since 2019, by Mr. Stavros Fotopoulos, Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Director of the IASO Surgery and Delivery Room, and Mrs. Maria Evangelia Nikolaidou, Obstetrician/Gynacologist and IASO associate.

IASO and IASO Children’s Hospital won the Bronze Award in the category for the actions and measures taken against COVID-19, for employee safety, support and information. From the onset of the Covid-19 crisis in Greece, IASO and IASO Children’s Hospital implemented and applied an integrated management plan to ensure absolute safety for all and a comprehensive Marketing & Communications strategy with the aim of raising awareness among citizens and staff. 
Focusing on the safety of patients, visitors, staff, doctors and nurses, the IASO hospitals took specific measures, in compliance with the guidelines and instructions of the National Public Health Organization (NPHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, special protocols and action plans were drawn up for pregnant women and children with suspected COVID-19 infection, and special personal protective equipment (PPE) was introduced. 
The Infections Committee – chaired by Mr. Marios Lazanas, Internist/Infectious Disease Specialist and Director of the IASO Internal Medicine / Infectious Disease Clinic, Ms. Maria Meliou, Internist/Infectious Disease Specialist and Registrar of the IASO Internal Medicine / Infectious Disease Clinic, and Ms. Eleni Papastamouli, Midwife, IASO Head of Infections – coordinates and supervises the implementation of the measures taken against the pandemic, while it keeps associates, staff and the competent authorities informed on all the developments.

IASO Children’s Hospital won the Bronze Award in the category for leading innovation for the successful innovative surgical treatment of Congenital Tracheal Stenosis (CTS) on a 10-day-old neonate. The neonate underwent surgery to have the narrowed part of the trachea removed, and reconstruction of the trachea and the right mainstem bronchus. The surgery was performed by the qualified and experienced team of the IASO Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cardiac Surgery / Congenital Heart Disease Clinic, under the Supervision of Professor Afksendiyos Kalangos; Ms. Evangelia Ntalarizou, Cardiac Surgeon; Mr. Panagiotis Sfyridis, Cardiac Surgeon; and Mr. Prodromos Azariadis, Cardiac Surgeon; and the support of the IASO Children’s Hospital Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit.

IASO Children’s Hospital won the Silver Αward in the category for leading innovation for the endoscopic treatment of pilonidal cyst with laser (E.P.Si.T. – Εndoscopic Pilonidal Sinus Treatment) on children. The IASO Children’s Hospital Pediatric Surgery Department applies a new high-tech surgical approach for the treatment of pilonidal cysts using endoscopic laser, with excellent results in children. As reported by Mr. Georgios Pergamalis and Mr. Arsenios Georgiadis, IASO Children’s Hospital Directors of the Pediatric Surgery Department, the EP.Si.T. technique is superior to conventional surgery for pilonidal cysts, in terms of absence of postoperative pain, shorter recovery and postoperative care time and best aesthetic results.

IASO Children’s Hospital won the Silver Award in the category for leading innovation for the successful placement of a lung valve through the jugular vein on a 12-year-old heart patient, without open-heart surgery, a first for Greece and Europe. The surgery was performed by the qualified and experienced team of the IASO Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Department and Hemodynamic Laboratory, under the supervision of Dr. Georgios Tsaousis, and under the scientific and technical guidance of Professor Vasilios Thanopoulos, top Greek Cardiac Surgeon with long experience in minimally invasive placement of lung valves. It was carried out by the IASO Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Department, headed by world famous Professor Afksendiyos Kalangos.

IASO Children’s Hospital won the Silver Award in the Media and Communications category for its comprehensive pediatric check-up media campaign. This campaign has already won 4 Ermis Awards: a Gold award in the Illustration category for the visualization of the concept, and the aesthetics and style of the illustration, two awards in the Corporate Communication Advertising Campaign category, and one award in the Advertising Campaign/Project Series. In addition, the advertising campaign has received international recognition and has appeared in two issues of Lürzer's Archive (the top magazine in the advertising industry worldwide).