A Patient’s Journey Through Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery at JHAH
August 26, 2025
Initiative to enhance patient wellbeing on inpatient wards selected from more than 4,000 submissions.
Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) has been recognized as a leader in patient-centered care by winning the Excellence in Patient Advocacy award at the International PX Congress.
The award was presented to JHAH in recognition of its “unwavering dedication to amplifying patient voices, empowering families, and ensuring advocacy is at the heart of care delivery,” the judges said.
The PX Initiative Awards honor healthcare organizations that demonstrate a compassionate understanding of patient needs and ensure that patients are at the heart of everything they do. The judges consider innovative projects, practices, and policies that elevate patient engagement, satisfaction, and wellbeing.
JHAH won the Excellence in Patient Advocacy award for a project that drastically reduced the use of “call lights” by patients. Call lights are handheld devices that allow patients to press a button to alert a nurse that they need assistance.
The project aimed to reduce patient call light usage by 30% and improve nurse response times to call lights in medical-surgical and intensive care wards at JHAH Al Hasa. To achieve this aim, project leaders introduced hourly rounding by nursing staff to proactively address patient needs. Nurses used the “5 Ps” — Pain, Position, Potty, Periphery, Pump — to respectively assess pain levels, ensure positional comfort, address toileting needs, ensure patients’ personal items and call light are within reach, and check medical equipment is functioning correctly.
The outcome was that call light usage fell by 37% over three months — much further than anticipated — while nurse response times to call lights rose to 94-95%, from 87%.
Dr. Mohammed Al Ghamdi, Chief of Southern Area Operations at JHAH, said that the Patient Advocacy Award “underscores JHAH’s core aim of ensuring that patients are at the center of everything we do.”
Fawzia says that Dr. Al Qoofi “never made me feel afraid” of the procedure, adding: “When I got my X-ray, he thoroughly explained it to me. I was reassured. I never felt the stress of the surgery; everything was simple and easy.
“I want to thank the medical staff, all nurses, and doctors. My doctor genuinely made the process easier for me, and I wish him nothing but the best. He really was there for me through the whole process; it felt like he was one of my children.”