Our General Manager Hakan Gökçe Spoke to the Economy Magazine About Turkey’s Health Tourism

Our General Manager Hakan Gökçe gave an interview to Economy Magazine about the latest situation of Turkey’s health tourism and Emsey Hospital’s health tourism goals.

What Is Health Tourism?
It is when individuals travel from one country to another to receive preventive, rehabilitative, therapeutic, and enhancing health services. Of course, you must be at a certain level in terms of health services for people to demand this service from you. At this point, health tourism is also related to people’s free travel. The globalization of the world also affects travel and health tourism.

What Are The Types Of Health Tourism?
Health tourism covers every subject that affects human health. Therefore, all issues related to health also include health tourism. Individuals do not have to be sick to receive health services. They can demand preventive health services as well as therapeutic health services.
When it comes to health services, hospitals first come to mind, but health is also divided into many branches. For example, thermal springs, which are in high demand in our country, have very important contributions to health. We have thermal springs in various regions of Turkey, which are open for health tourism.

What Is Turkey’s Position In Health Tourism?
In recent years, our country has made significant progress in the field of health. It has carried out important investments both in the public and private sectors. Investments in health have developed in a paradoxical way: people coming to our country for health tourism have led to the emergence of new needs, which in turn has led to new investments, ensuring continuous development. Thus, the sector supports each other’s growth.

During the pandemic, our state, through the Ministry of Health, organized very high-quality services both in transportation and in health for patients coming from abroad. There are more than 50 countries within 3 hours of travel around our country, which makes access easier.

With its health infrastructure, our country passed a good test during the pandemic. As a result, a positive perception was formed worldwide. Especially as hospitals, we see that people working with other countries are trying to make appointments to send patients to Turkey. I am not talking about just one or two countries, but many. During this process, we have created a good image not only in our country but also worldwide. We believe this will continue to progress even further.

Turkey also has a strong infrastructure in terms of geological resources. Many opportunities, such as thermal springs, mud, and clay therapies, contribute to health tourism. We are also ready in terms of technology and services. Our government has institutionalized International Patient Services, demonstrating the high value it places on the sector. With both the public and private sectors, Turkey is a strong country prepared for this position.

What Is Emsey Hospital’s Contribution To Health Tourism, And What Are Your Activities?
Emsey Hospital has been serving for 8 years and has been working professionally on international services for 7 years. We respond to health service needs from around 20 countries worldwide on a continuous basis. In addition, statistics show that we provide health services to citizens of nearly 90 countries who come to our country for various reasons in a year. It is pleasing for us that we have attracted the attention and satisfaction of many countries in a short time.
Our hospital is sufficient in terms of bed capacity, location, and infrastructure. We are 1.5 km away from Sabiha Gökçen Airport. Due to the easy accessibility of our hospital and its advanced technological infrastructure, we are highly preferred.

Patients especially prefer our hospital in the fields of Dentistry, Hair Transplantation, Brain and Spine Surgery, Pediatric Oncology, Oncology, and Hematology Stem Cell Transplantation. In addition, we are also frequently chosen in the areas of IVF and Check-up.

As Emsey Hospital, we continuously audit and improve ourselves, asking whether we provide the best and highest quality service. We subject ourselves to international organizations such as JCI, objective measurement centers. Our hospital has been accredited with the JCI certificate. In addition, after National Quality in Health audits, we continue to serve as one of the pioneering quality institutions with a score of 99.94.

Emsey Hospital’s biggest motto is continuous change, development, and transformation. We work and grow according to the needs. Both our management system and infrastructure are ready for this. Our system has been designed accordingly.

At the same time, while doing this, Emsey Hospital cooperates with all relevant national institutions to meet the demand for health services from abroad. It has received the necessary documents for service delivery by passing the required inspections.

Sometimes, some countries request us to provide health services in their own country. In countries where appropriate conditions can be created, we can also provide such services.

What Are Your Goals In Health Tourism?
As Emsey Hospital, our future goal is to carry our quality beyond the times and conditions in terms of development, change, and transformation. At this point, we aim to increase our quality every day.

During the pandemic, we carefully planned our entire health services infrastructure and provided a safer hospital environment for both our staff and our citizens applying to our hospital. We also prepare appropriate environments and organize programs promoting our country.
With the motto of continuous development and quality service, we aim to expand our coverage. The service we provide is a type of service that covers all humanity.

By continuing our promotional activities internationally with digital advertising, we aim to increase our visits and relations and to tell the world how strong the infrastructure of our country’s health institutions is.

People coming for health tourism also want to travel and see our country. In this sense, it also contributes to cultural tourism and the promotion of Turkey. At this point, we provide guidance services and prepare suitable environments for people coming from abroad to stay outside the hospital.

Therefore, as Emsey Hospital, we aim for continuous development and expansion. Our services cover humanity. Our fundamental element is the human being. A Turkish, Chinese, and American baby cry in the same language and laugh in the same language. The language of health services, as in these examples, is also universal. A person with a toothache, no matter what language, religion, or race they belong to, experiences the same pain.

Health tourism is beneficial not only for health or hospitals but also for our country. People may go to many places to travel or trade, but health is vital and essential. For this reason, individuals prefer countries with strong infrastructure and developed health sectors. As Emsey Hospital, we make every effort to represent our country abroad and to provide health services in the highest quality manner, and we will continue to do so.