TİKA’s Efforts to Open the Turkish Hospital in Lebanon Began

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) is preparing to open the “Sidon Turkish Trauma and Rehabilitation Hospital” upon the instructions of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to help people bind up their wounds in Lebanon, where 4 hospitals became unusable due to the massive explosion at the Port of Beirut.

Speaking to an AA reporter, TİKA’s Beirut Office Coordinator Orhan Aydın said that they have started the maintenance, repair, and renovation activities to eliminate the structural, mechanical, and electrical problems of the Turkish Hospital.

Aydın noted that the Turkish Trauma and Rehabilitation Hospital was built and fully equipped by TİKA in accordance with the instructions of President Erdoğan and was delivered to Lebanese authorities in 2010. He said that the 100-bed Turkish Hospital, which has two blocks, could not be put into operation due to various reasons caused by Lebanese authorities.

Aydın stated that high-level visits were paid after the explosion at the Port of Beirut per the instructions of President Erdoğan.

He added that the idea of putting the Turkish Hospital into service as soon as possible was discussed during the meetings of Vice President Fuat Oktay, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Health and Food Policies Council Chairman Prof. Serkan Topaloğlu, and Head of TİKA’s Middle East and Africa Department Bülent Korkmaz with Lebanese authorities. He said, “Then, an action plan was signed with the Ministry of Health of Lebanon. In this context, the responsibilities of TİKA, the Ministry of Health, and the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) regarding the fulfillment of the needs of the hospital, which has not been used for 10 years, were determined.”

Underlining that TİKA has started maintenance, repair, and renovation activities to eliminate the structural, mechanical, and electrical problems of the hospital building as of that day, Aydın said, “We want to complete these activities within two months and announce the good news that the Turkish Hospital has started admitting patients.”

Stressing that TİKA’s Beirut Office has implemented more than 100 projects in Lebanon in the past 10 years, Aydın noted that they continue to support Lebanon not only in the health industry but also in many other fields such as education, tourism, vocational training, restoration of historical buildings, and animal husbandry.

The Turkish Hospital was built to contribute to the reconstruction of Lebanon

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) built the Turkish Trauma and Rehabilitation Hospital within the scope of the donation of $20 million that it had undertaken to make at the “2^nd Donor Conference,” which was held in France to contribute to the reconstruction of Lebanon.

Built and equipped in the city of Sidon, located 44 kilometers south of the capital, the Turkish Trauma and Rehabilitation Hospital was prepared to serve Lebanon at a cost of approximately $17 million.

Designed with a total indoor area of 14,000 sq. meters and a total floor area of 12,000 sq. meters, the Sidon Turkish Hospital has 2 blocks and is ready to serve with its 100 patient beds.

Consisting of a treatment block with an emergency room, intensive care units, operating rooms, and technical units and a patient care block with administrative and inpatient units, the Sidon Turkish Hospital was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in November 2010 and was delivered to Lebanon.

The Turkish Hospital has been the victim of internal conflicts for years

Although the Sidon Turkish Hospital has been ready to serve with all its equipment for years, it could not be put into service due to internal political conflicts in Lebanon.

During the meetings held with Turkish delegations, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Health of Lebanon Hussain Muhaydeli said that the hospital could not be transferred to the Ministry of Health since the land on which the Turkish Hospital was built in the city of Sidon was allocated to the Municipality of Sidon.

Stating that a license was issued for the Turkish Hospital in 2013 upon the decision by the Office of the Prime Minister, Muhaydeli noted that the land was transferred from the municipality to the Ministry of Health with the protocol signed between the Ministry of Health and the Municipality of Sidon.

Massive explosion in Beirut

The Ministry of Health of Lebanon announced that 4 hospitals with a total capacity of 500 beds suspended their operations after the massive explosion caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in the capital, Beirut, on August 4.

The cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) peaked in Lebanon, which is also going through one of the biggest economic crises in its history.

In Lebanon, the population of which reached approximately 6 million with Syrian and Palestinian refugees, thousands of people who were injured due to the disaster at the Port of Beirut sought medical care at healthcare facilities outside the capital.

Considering the medical needs in the country after the massive explosion at the Port of Beirut, President Erdoğan appointed Health and Food Policies Council Chairman Prof. Serkan Topaloğlu as a special representative to ensure that the Sidon Turkish Hospital starts admitting patients as soon as possible.

Prof. Topaloğlu and the accompanying Turkish delegation arrived in Lebanon on August 13, met with Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Minister of Health Hamad Hasan, and agreed to accelerate the efforts to open the hospital.