Dr. M. Tansel Turan
Adana
Çukurova has probably the most fertile soils in Turkey. Its soils are so fertile that even a dry twig can flourish immediately after it is planted. Lately, Çukurova has been very productive in areas apart from agriculture. For instance, many hospitals having international standards have been opening on the ultra fertile soils of Çukurova.
Adana has been one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Its history dates back over 4,000 years. It has also been a leading health center for centuries. One of the first medical schools and hospitals in the world were established here. Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, established one of the seven Aesklepions, which is the sanctuary of Aesklepios, the Greek God of Healing and Health, in Yumurtalık, Adana, centuries ago. The then Hittite King visited the center to be healed. ‘Health tourism’ has thus begun in the world.
Adana has lately been attracting attention with another trait, with the opening of hospitals possessing international standards one after another. It seems that Adana aims at being the first, not only in surrounding cities, but in the whole surrounding region.
CITY OF HOSPITALS
The Çukurova University Balcalı Medical School and the Başkent University Hospital had been dominating the health sector in the region until quite recently. In addition to these two university hospitals, which are quite developed in terms of science and medicine, there were Adana Numune Hospital, Army Hospital, two public hospitals and a number of private hospitals in Adana about two years ago. The city had been offering treatment and health care services to about 20 cities, from Van to Konya and from Hatay to Aksaray. Many private hospitals have opened one after another in Adana in just one year. Leading A+ hospital chains opened new hospitals in the city, and the first and only private orthopedics hospital in Turkey was established in Adana as well. Adana is also one of the cities selected for the Ministry of Health’s ‘Health Campus’ project. It is anticipated that Adana’s inpatient bed availability will be doubled soon following the completion of the campus project that aims the full cooperation of all shareholders offering health care services. Further, the Adana Chamber of Commerce plans to build a university and a medical school in the near future. Prof. Necdet Ünüvar, Adana MP and former Ministry of Health undersecretary, underlines the increasing inpatient bed capacity in Adana. “The private hospitals have already offered luxurious single rooms with extra beds for patients’ accompaniers and full bathroom amenities. Now the public hospitals are also being transformed. Adana aims at having the highest quality bed capacity in Turkey, in both public and private hospitals” he says.
All of these developments pave the way for Adana to increase its health tourism potential. Health tourism is one of Turkey’s foremost goals, not necessarily for health care providers, but for an entire city to cover. Health tourism has the potential to improve all of the dynamics of a city with its huge economic returns, something that is incomparable to the economic returns of recreational tourism.
REGIONAL ADVANTAGE
Adana is going to be the health care base of the region with its unique characteristics. We should firstly talk about its geographical location. Adana has been located in the center of the region that has developed economically and has increased the demand for health care services recently. The health care institutions in the region offer services to many patients from Turkey’s bordering neighbors in the south, such as Syria, Iraq and Iran, as well as patients from the Turkic Republics. Patients from the Balkans have also recently discovered the exclusive heath care services in Adana.
It is not all about the geographical location of the city. Adana and the surrounding region offer familiar cultural characteristics to the patients coming from the above-mentioned countries. With its cuisine and social customs, Adana enables the patients from the Middle East, the Caspian region and the Balkans to feel at home. Arabic, English and other foreign languages being spoken in the city is another advantage for Adana’s service sector. The city is also proximate to many other tourism spots, such as Cappadocia, Gaziantep and Antalya, enabling patients to travel with their friends and relatives during their spare time.
UNIVERSAL STANDARDS
Adana’s hospitals, specifically the newest ones, have international standards and even higher. All of them applied to be accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), which is seen as the highest certification in health care standards for hospitals. The approval process is expected to be finalized in a few months. Adana’s hospitals are quite advanced in medicine and technology, and they are specializing in different areas, like otorhinolaryngology and psychiatry. In addition to an orthopedics hospital, there is a project to build a hospital focusing on plastic surgery and burn treatment. Adana, as the base of all of these hospitals, takes firm steps to be a center that offers health care services for all diseases.
KUTU
• The proximity of Adana to centres of tourism such as Cappadocia, Gaziantep and Antalya allows for patients and their relatives to benefit from tourist oriented packages along with treatment.
• There are newly built additions since the last year, to health facilities’ structuring that has been taking place in Adana. Alongside hospital chains that are well established, renowned and top class, the first private orthopaedics hospital has been opened in Adana.
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