Istanbul, Turkey
The Turkish giant hospital Acibadem Healthcare Group is working to treat more Ethiopian patients who want to travel abroad for medical services. The group can treat cancer, heart problems, vitro fertilization, organ trans¬plantation (liver, kidney, bone marrow) and spine problems.
The group which has made an agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to transport patients to Istanbul with a fair price package has also made a contact with Ethiopian hospitals to work together.
Currently nearly 50 Ethiopian patients go to Istanbul to get medical service at Acibadem every year.
Imane Yuce, Communication Specialist of international marketing at the hospital told Capital “some disease or organ failure do need a specialized hospital to treat them. We have seen that many Ethiopian people need the service we provide and some go to Thailand and we need to be part of these services. The great advantage for this is both Turkish Airline and Ethiopian Airlines have a direct flight from Addis to Istanbul which is very easy to get the patients and we are working on it but it is not in the level that we are expected and we will do much more to enhance it.”
The hospital which has a university in Istanbul is also considering to give scholarships for some Ethiopian students in medical health care education.
Acibadem currently operates 21 hospitals and 16 clinics in four countries. Centers of Excellence throughout the network include 11 Cancer Centers (surgical, radiotherapy, chemotherapy), 16 Heart Care Centers (pediatric and adult cardiology and cardiac surgery), 13 In Vitro Fertilization Centers (Infertility – IVF), 10 Organ Trans¬plantation Centers (liver, kidney, bone marrow), nine Spine Centers, one Sports Medicine Center and six Robotic Surgery the group is operating with 23,000 employees. Comprising 21 hospitals and 16 medical centers, Acibadem has become the world’s second largest Healthcare Chain with this agreement under the auspices of IHH Healthcare Berhad.
Acibadem Healthcare Group grew by 32% and made a turnover of TL 4.3 billion in 2018.
The group has hospitals across Europe as well, serving patients in Iraq, Bulgaria, Macedonia and the Netherlands. Moreover, the group seeks to increase the volume of health tourism.