This article was originally published in the Brand Finance Global Top 250 Hospitals 2026.
Johns Hopkins Medicine International ranks as the strongest brand in the Brand Finance Global Top 250 Hospitals 2026 for the second consecutive year, with a Brand Strength Index score of 83.3/100. Its reputation rests on a model that has brought teaching, research, and patient care together under one umbrella for more than 140 years, and on a system that spans the full spectrum of care, from primary care to complex quaternary services, supported by community hospitals, a health plan, and home care. In this Brand Spotlight, Charles Wiener, M.D., President of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, discusses how the institution's research foundation, its Genes to Society curriculum, and nearly three decades of international partnerships, from building oncology capabilities in Singapore to the Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare joint venture in Saudi Arabia, have carried the mission well beyond Baltimore. Looking ahead, Johns Hopkins Medicine shares how precision medicine, AI-enabled data initiatives such as Johns Hopkins inHealth, and a collaborative, partnership-led approach will expand its impact in the markets where patients live, rather than simply replicating the model abroad.
Interview with Charles Wiener, M.D., President, Johns Hopkins Medicine International, Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
President, Johns Hopkins Medicine International & Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Could you tell us a bit about the current strength and reputation of Johns Hopkins Medicine, what it distinctively stands for, and what benefits that brings in interactions with different stakeholders?
First and foremost, we are the primary academic medical centre that originally brought together teaching, research, and patient care under one umbrella. That model dates back to the late 1800s, and it remains our North Star today, more than 140 years later.
The strongest foundational component of that model is research. When you look across the healthcare landscape, there are many organisations that do a lot of things very well. But research is really the foundational strength of Johns Hopkins Medicine. We invest enormous energy into research, from the cellular level all the way through to understanding innovative surgical techniques and other types of care.
What’s important is that all of this sits along a trajectory that continually improves patient care. Being able to connect research, education, and clinical practice in that way is really at the core of what we offer.
Education is another key differentiator. We were the first institution in the U.S. to involve medical students directly in patient care. More recently, we developed a curriculum called Genes to Society, which rethought medical education by looking at genetics, environmental factors, and their combined impact on disease, and using that to drive more personalised care.
All of this ultimately exists to support patients. Johns Hopkins is often seen as the place you go when there are no other options, or when you have something extremely rare. That is true, but it’s only part of the picture. We operate across the full spectrum of care, from primary care to complex quaternary care, supported by community hospitals, a health plan, and home care. It’s a comprehensive system informed by research and teaching at every level.
Our research shows that this reputation is built on genuine excellence and innovation. What does the organisation do to maintain and communicate that reputation, and to extend its benefits through partnerships?
The area I can speak to most directly is the creation of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, which was founded almost 30 years ago. It’s a jointly owned organisation between the School of Medicine and the health system, created to take the mission abroad.
Historically, Johns Hopkins has always cared for international patients, often with very complex needs. Over time, the organisation began asking whether there was a way to bring care to patients in their home countries, rather than having them travel long distances away from their families and support systems.
Our first major opportunity came in Singapore, where the government asked Johns Hopkins to help build oncology capabilities. That was really our first move into taking what we know about healthcare, across research, education, and patient care, and adapting it to a different country, working very collaboratively with local partners. At the time, this was something genuinely different.
How has that international partnership approach developed over time, and what are some examples that really bring it to life?
Over the years, we explored different models. One example is the management of three public hospitals in Abu Dhabi, where Johns Hopkins placed leadership directly into C-suite roles and managed those hospitals for nearly a decade.
In other cases, we’ve pursued affiliation models. These don’t involve managing hospitals, but they do involve very strict quality and safety metrics, along with long-term relationships with some lasting over 20 years. We work on building clinical programmes and investing deeply in nursing education, not just through short-term training but by developing nursing practice so nurses can work to the top of their licence, as they do in the U.S. and UK.
Our most ambitious partnership is Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, launched in 2013 with Saudi Aramco. This was a true joint venture, created to spin out healthcare services so Aramco could focus on its core business. What began as care for employees and their families has now opened to the public, with centres of excellence in cancer and cardiovascular care.
Partnerships for innovation are also a focus this year, including collaboration with industry, investors, and government. What role does Johns Hopkins Medicine play in that ecosystem?
Reputation plays a big role in attracting innovation. People come to Johns Hopkins with ideas they want to develop. We have a technology ventures arm that helps develop those ideas, brings in investors, and supports spin-out companies.
One area we see as particularly important going forward is precision medicine and data. Through initiatives like Johns Hopkins inHealth, we’re using AI to organise and make sense of healthcare data so it can be used more effectively for patients.
From an international perspective, this is especially interesting because most existing datasets are based on North American patients. In regions like the Middle East, where genetic and environmental factors differ, there’s huge potential to change how care is delivered by expanding that research globally.
Looking ahead, what are the next goals for the organisation in the coming years?
In the international space, our focus is on expanding impact, not replication. We want to bring Johns Hopkins–level care closer to patients’ homes, while also supporting education and research in those markets.
This doesn’t happen overnight, but there are many regions where there’s strong demand, from patients, clinicians, and governments, for that kind of long-term investment. You can’t spread one organisation throughout the entire world, so you really need a patchwork of different organisations doing similar things, in different countries, with different toolkits, that all work to improve care together.
Ultimately, improving global healthcare requires collaboration across many organisations, not just one, and we see that as a key part of our role going forward.
