Inaugural Hospital + Healthcare Excellence Awards — nominations open

Until 31 August 2025, nominations are open for the Inaugural Hospital + Healthcare Excellence Awards — an annual initiative celebrating a diverse range of excellence across hospital and health care. Brought to you by WF Media and Hospital + Healthcare (H+H), the awards are dedicated to establishing a new benchmark for the recognition and celebration of outstanding achievements and transformative contributions — shining a spotlight on the pioneers, innovators and dedicated professionals making a difference today and shaping the future of health care.

“Guided by an ethos that excellence in health care manifests in a myriad of contributions — from groundbreaking advancements in patient care and impactful research, to the implementation of best practices in operational efficiency, to the fostering of compassionate and supportive work environments — these awards seek to, from the start, capture something of the breadth of excellence we have to celebrate across health care,” H+H Editor Dr Joseph Brennan said.

To support this ethos, the Inaugural H+H Excellence Awards feature a diverse range of categories designed to spotlight the multifaceted nature of achievement in hospital and health care, right from the outset. Across eight categories, there are 15 individual awards:

1. Hospital — Hospital Department of the Year Award and Healthcare Service of the Year Award
2. Nursing & Midwifery — Nurse/Midwife of the Year Award and Nursing Unit Manager of the Year Award
3. Facility Admin — Administrator Excellence Award and Facilities Management Excellence Award
4. Allied Health — Practitioner of the Year Award
5. Aged Care (powered by Aged Health) — Best Services in Aged Care of the Year Award and Best Facility design in Aged Care of the Year Award
6. Design in Health — Architect/Designer Firm of the Year Award and Hospital Fit Out of the Year Award
7. Research, Solutions & Technology — Researcher of the Year Award and Technology Solution of the Year Award
8. Diversity, Inclusion & Sustainability — Diversity, Inclusion & Sustainability Practitioner of the Year Award and Diversity, Inclusion & Sustainability Program of the Year Award

There are also two special awards:

1. H+H Readers’ Choice Award
2. H+H Trailblazer Award

“In launching its first chapter, the Inaugural H+H Excellence Awards will lay the foundations for a legacy of acknowledgment,” Brennan said. “One that champions the unwavering commitment, innovative spirit and exceptional dedication of the remarkable individuals, teams and organisations making a profound difference in health care. In this way, we envision the winners of each award as ‘the inaugural class of pioneers’ and exemplars of excellence in hospital and health care.”

Each award will have three finalists and is judged in a rigorous, transparent way by independent experts, according to the following criteria: Measurable Impact, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership and Vision, Patient-Centred Care, Collaboration and Teamwork, Sustainability and Efficiency, and Contribution to the Field. You can find more detail on the judging criteria here.

“Welcoming both self/own-team nominations and the nomination of other achievers, by taking part you can help us highlight the many wonderful stories of dedication, innovation, and quality and compassionate care that is taking place right across the healthcare system,” Brennan said. “It is with great excitement that, in 2025, we launch the H+H Excellence Awards. We can’t wait to celebrate all your wonderful stories of healthcare excellence.”

You can access the nomination form here. Entry is free, with entries accepted until 11.59 pm AEST on 31 August 2025.

Top image credit: iStock.com/YurolaitsAlbert