'Türkiye's Century of Healthcare' raises alarm: The number of private hospitals has increased by 103.7 percent in the last 22 years

Source: News Center

The Ankara Medical Chamber Board of Directors emphasized the increasing rate of doctor visits, city hospitals becoming a black hole in the budget, and the increasing number of private hospitals, stating, " The health system and the public budget cannot bear these burdens."

The chamber's statement referenced Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu's remarks, "We are launching the Turkish Century of Health," and that "Turkey has become the country that can provide the best healthcare services in the world in the last 20 years." The statement continued, "However, when service delivery and budget indicators are examined, it is clear that alarm bells are ringing in the healthcare system." The statement noted that the government continues to insist on the "Health Transformation Program," and that this insistence is causing irreparable problems. The following was briefly noted:

"First Alarm: The number of doctor visits, which was 208 million 966 thousand in 2002, increased by 401 percent and reached 1 billion 47 million 877 in 2024: The Ministry of Health continues to implement populist policies instead of measures and regulations aimed at controlling the provocative health demand that has exceeded 1 billion. While the Ministry of Health estimated the number of doctor visits per capita in the 2025 budget proposal as 11.9 in 2025, 12.32 in 2026 and 12.6 in 2027, it has already reached the 2026 estimate in 2024. The fact that Türkiye, with a population of 85 million, sees almost as many doctors as China, with a population of 1.4 billion, and that each citizen visits a health institution on average 12.2 times a year to benefit from health services, shows that the society is not healthy, diagnosis and treatment processes are prolonged, and health literacy is low. It is an indicator of the failure of development and the failure of health policies that deviate from scientific principles.

Second Alarm: The Number of Private Hospitals Has Increased by 103.7 Percent in the Last 22 Years: One of the reasons for the spurred healthcare demand, which has surpassed 1 billion, is the Health Transformation Program, which views patients as "customers" and attempts to determine the healthcare system through market supply-demand balances. To expand the private sector's share, more intensive resources are being transferred from the public to the private sector. While there were 774 public hospitals, 50 university hospitals, and 271 private hospitals in 2002, by 2024, there will be 941 public hospitals, 69 university hospitals, and 552 private hospitals. The private sector has more than doubled its size compared to the public sector in 20 years and controls one-third of the healthcare sector. As we saw in the "Newborn Gang" incident that killed our babies, the market-oriented approach to healthcare planning, aimed at further expanding the private sector, has morphed into a structure that breeds crime and criminals.

Third Alarm: City hospitals are causing public losses: While 15 billion 129 million 245 thousand 397 TL was allocated as an expenditure item for “Healthcare Facilities Built with the Public-Private Partnership Model” in January, this figure reached 80 billion 916 million 996 thousand 636 TL in the first nine months (January-September) of 2025. While City Hospitals continue to swallow public resources, the companies undertaking the projects continue to engage in irregularities and disregard for the rules.