Çapa Medical Faculty is moving: Patients concerned about transportation difficulties

The clinics of Istanbul University's Istanbul Faculty of Medicine (Çapa Hospital), which were evacuated due to being earthquake-vulnerable, will be moved to the new 250-bed auxiliary service building of the Necmi Kadıoğlu State Hospital in Esenyurt. This relocation, which will be carried out under a three-year protocol signed between the Ministry of Health and Istanbul University, has caused concern among hospital patients and their relatives due to transportation difficulties.

The earthquake-vulnerable buildings of Çapa Hospital, the teaching hospital of the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, had been gradually evacuated over the years. Most recently, operations in the monoblock building housing the surgical units were halted. The fact that the hospital will be moved to a location quite far from its current site has drawn reactions from patients and their relatives who visit the hospital regularly.

Istanbul University Rector Prof. Dr. Bülent Zülfikar stated in an interview with Diken that the buildings would be renovated and made earthquake-ready by 2028. Zülfikar noted that the construction of the aforementioned auxiliary hospital building has been completed and will be handed over to the Ministry of Health in the coming days. Under the protocol, the medical faculty's clinics will move to this new building, where the faculty will continue to provide healthcare services, as well as medical education, residency, and sub-specialty training, using its own staff and equipment.

According to information on the website of the company that constructed the auxiliary building, a total of 223 seismic isolators were used in the 37,527-square-meter hospital building. The auxiliary building, which consists of four blocks in total, features 13 operating rooms, 29 intensive care units, 16 neonatal intensive care beds, and 56 outpatient clinics.

An average of 6,092 patients are examined daily at the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Hospital, and 12,607 patients were operated on in the first four months of the year. The faculty admits approximately 400 students annually to its Turkish and English medical programs.

How the relocation process will affect the transportation of patients and healthcare workers, and the impact of this situation on the continuity of healthcare services, are among the issues that will be closely monitored in the coming period.

News Source: 12punto