Bedbug problem grows at hospital in İzmir

Türkan Özilhan State Hospital, located in the Bornova district of İzmir, has recently come to the fore due to a bedbug problem. This insect infestation, which has been ongoing for approximately 45 days in the palliative care unit—where patients with the highest risk of infection and those mostly in need of care are treated—has not been resolved despite all efforts.

Hospital staff and patients' relatives are complaining about the inability to maintain hygiene in a unit where individuals with weakened immune systems are treated, and that the situation poses a health risk. This problem in the ward has also caused unrest among the staff.

Birlik Sağlık-Sen Chairman Ahmet Doğruyol criticized the hospital administration for failing to take the necessary steps regarding the issue and stated the following:

“With today's technology, it is thought-provoking that a state hospital where thousands of our citizens receive services has been unable to get rid of an insect for about 1.5 months. While you would find dozens of solutions if you searched the internet for ‘how to get rid of bedbugs,’ it is a bitter reality that the administration has not been able to deal with a single insect for 1.5 months. Of course, many of our administrators have forgotten their primary duty of providing the best healthcare services to our citizens and have made it their duty to serve politicians and their political associates; the incompetence we are experiencing today is the result of this. I am calling out to the managers; instead of dealing with matters that are not your responsibility, perform your primary duties.”