Continues innovations in the field of health. As the Sun Express, we have prepared a series of articles on Private Health Institutions in Fethiye. Within this scope, we interviewed Dr. Ahmet Salihmimaroğlu, the Medical and Administrative Chief of Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital. We wanted to share with you the development he has achieved since its establishment.
Ahmet Salihmimaroğlu, who is a General Surgeon and a ???? , has served as the Medical Chief of the Lokman Hekim Esnaf Hospital for the last 3.5 years of his 4.5 year employment with the hospital. We asked him for information on the hospital. Ahmet Bey told us that the hospital had been established 11 years ago, and that last year they had celebrated the 10th anniversary with various events. He said, ’In May this year, we shall celebrate our 11th anniversary. Last year, in honor of our 10th year, the executive board of the hospital made some sacrifices, and we increased our capacity by 50%. There has been an increase in both the number of beds we have, and the medical equipment we have available. MR heads the list. An MR unit was imported from America. It is an open MR, which has enabled us to undersign another first in Fethiye. There is another MR unit in Fethiye, but that is a closed one. Furthermore, our laboratory has been completely renewed. And, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Gynaecology and Obstetrics departments have been enlarged to enable two doctors to work there. This meant a capacity increase in these departments where only one doctor was employed previously. Our Ophthalmology department has been equipped with new tools for the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases. Shortly before, a dental department has been added. Last year, after sustained effort, we were able to open a psychiatry clinic. There are no psychiatry services in the private hospitals in the area. The Ministry of Health regulations make the establishment of a psychiatry clinic very detailed and difficult. Our hospital has overcome all these difficulties and presented Fethiye with a psychiatry clinic. The only thing we have missing at the moment is a cardiology department. Our cardiologist is ready and waiting, and our hospital has completed all preparations for employing a heart specialist, but the employment of new specialists has been limited by the regulations issued by the Ministry of Health on February 15, 2008. Our Cardiology Department will open in October, 2008, after the lifting of these limitations. Once we start giving services in the cardiology department, after the priorities our hospital will set in place, perhaps this field can expand to encompass angiocardiographies and perhaps even open heart surgery. At the opening of our annex we had projects such as angio- and open heart surgery, a kidney stone treatment center in mind as we declared our plans for the future. But at the moment the Ministry of Heath has limited the employment of new specialists, as well as the purchase and import of new equipment. Therefore our hospital is in a waiting phase, like all other hospitals. That is, we are waiting for October or November. The new Social Security law goes into effect in October, and will bring new financial loads to private hospitals. The Ministry of Health is planning on limiting the difference charged to patients. This limitation will bring a heavy financial burden to hospitals. This means, we will also be struggling to stay on our feet, just like the other private hospitals. However, our hospital has an advantage. As we are in a touristic region, this makes us luckier than hospitals in other parts of the country, trying to survive. When the capacity of our hospital is evaluated, we give outpatients services to approximately 250 – 400 persons daily. Our in-patient capacity is 30 – 35 beds. During the tourism season, we are almost always at full capacity. And in winter, apart from the Turks and foreigners living in Fethiye, our hospital is like a regional hospital serving Kaş, Kalkan, Kınık on one side and all the way to Dalaman and Ortaca.
There are surgery and internal medicine departments in our hospital. The surgery department comprises general surgery, brain surgery, orthopedics and traumotology, gynaecology and obstetrics, chest surgery, urology, eye and ear, nose and throat surgery. In our internal medicine department, we have specialists in internal medicine, psychiatry and dermatology. Working hours at our hospital end at 5 pm in winter, and 6 pm in summer. However, the emergency department is open 24 hours a day. The departments where we have two specialists are in service for one more hour.
Of course, it is important to know the applications regarding the tourists who visit Fethiye. Our international guests have travel insurance. Those who live in Turkey have private insurance. As they cannot benefit much from their personal insurance, they take out insurance policies from Turkish insurance companies. We have a unit to take care of these issues, made up of people who are conversant with these issues and who have excellent command of languages. This unit takes care of all procedures concerning our patients without tiring them out. This means, we serve all our patients, local and visitor alike, with the same care, and try to make them feel like welcome guests. Preventive medicine is on the agenda with the new law. We believe that, as the most modern hospital in the region, we can give the best service in preventive medicine. According to Ministry of Health statistics, we are the second largest hospital in the region based on the number of polyclinics, and are a candidate for becoming a real regional hospital. Furthermore, we launch some health campaigns in the winter months, such as lung scans, prostate scans, cholesterol scans, mammography, blood sugar scans, etc.. We charge minimal fees during these campaigns and aim to introduce our hospital to our public and to help them with health issues. That is to say, we try to give back to the society what we take from it, within our financial ability.”
