TEKIRDAG, Turkey
Turkey will inaugurate its 13th city hospital in the northwestern Tekirdag province on Friday.
Built as part of the countrywide City Hospitals Project carried out with public-private partnership, the Tekirdag City Hospital has a total of 566 beds, 124 outpatient clinics, 18 operating rooms, and 102 beds in the intensive care unit.
At least 700 service personnel are to be employed in the hospital in addition to health care staff.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony.
The hospital comes forth as the most advanced, integrated health facility in the region, aiming to also treat patients from surrounding neighbors including Bulgaria and Greece.
With the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, the hospital presents itself with a large capacity of intensive care unit beds. While 46 of 102 intensive care beds in the hospital are allocated to general intensive care, 27 of them are allocated to newborn units, 16 to pediatric, five to cardiovascular surgery, and eight to coronary intensive care.
There are also four single-person mother-baby sleeping rooms in the hospital and 14 special beds in the mother hotel.
Built with a "smart building" concept offering economical tri-generation heating and cooling, the major hospital has a 1-kilometer-long (0.62 miles) bicycle pathway and a helipad in the hospital complex. Free valet service is also available at the hospital.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ali Cengiz Kalkan, the provincial health director of Tekirdag, said: "One of the biggest health investments in our region has been actualized in the history of Turkey."
"Here, there will be a Pet-CT unit that saves us time in cancer diagnosis and treatment and increases the success of the treatment. Until today, our citizens went to other provinces and received services for this. Our citizens will no longer need to go out of the province," Kalkan added.
Underscoring the hospital's advanced technology, he said the hospital building will heat its own water via 6,000 square meters (64,500 square miles) of solar panels placed on its roof.
Kalkan further stated the city hospital will be the "heart of Thrace" and added: "Our region will become an important hub, especially in health tourism. It will serve people from both the Balkans and different countries of the world."
*Writing by Merve Aydogan in Ankara
