Georgia had no form of healthcare facility accreditation. This is how that changed:
- 2014 — PHIG begins campaigning for independent international accreditation of Georgian facilities through social media, academic work and dialogue with government and providers.
- 2021–22 — pilot accreditation: more than 50 facilities voluntarily sign agreements with Accréditation Sans Frontières under an adapted Georgian standard; four institutions are accredited (source: ASF / PHIG pilot records).
- 2022 — a ministerial order makes independent international accreditation mandatory for state-funded hospitals.
- 2023 — 23 facilities begin international accreditation with Accreditation Canada, with PHIG as official representative (source: Accreditation Canada / PHIG, 2023).
The case illustrates PHIG’s method: evidence, a concrete proposal, public voice, engagement with decision-makers, a policy decision, and follow-up. Read more on the Accreditation in Georgia page and in Resources.
When PHIG began its accreditation advocacy in 2014, no legal framework for hospital accreditation existed in Georgia. The healthcare market was dominated by large private hospital chains competing on price and infrastructure but with no external quality verification mechanism. The Ministry of Health had proposed accreditation legislation but lacked a credible local technical partner to anchor the process.
PHIG’s role was threefold: to build the technical case for accreditation in Georgian policy language, to demonstrate a working accreditation model through the ASF pilot programme, and to engage the Ministry and key hospital operators in the policy dialogue that ultimately produced the 2022 ministerial order making accreditation mandatory for state-funded facilities.
The outcome is measurable. By the end of 2023, 23 Georgian facilities had begun the Accreditation Canada International process and 50+ had engaged with ASF accreditation. The case demonstrates that a small national institute with credible international partnerships can shift healthcare quality policy at the system level within a decade — a model PHIG is now applying to its regional expansion strategy across the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Professor, David Tvildiani Medical University | Chair, Public Health Institute of Georgia | Founder, Accréditation Sans Frontières
