EBRD finances high-tech Turkish hospital

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced Monday it would extend an €80 million (nearly $90 million) loan for construction of a new high-tech hospital in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep, near the Syria-Turkey border.

"It has recently seen a sharp increase in population, partly due to the influx of refugees from neighboring Syria. Rapid population growth is putting a serious strain on healthcare services," the bank said in a statement.

According to the EBRD, the hospital was expected to benefit Gaziantep’s population of close to two million people.

A private investor would build and maintain a health campus worth €600 million (around $672 million) while Turkey's Ministry of Health would provide medical services under a public-private partnership model, EBRD said.

The new Gaziantep hospital, which will consist of a general hospital, a women's and children's hospital as well as a cardiovascular and oncology wing, is expected to be operational in 2020, it said. It is expected to have a total of 1,875 beds.

"Refugees in Turkey have access to the same cost-free medical treatment in public hospitals as local citizens, regardless of insurance coverage available to them, and so are expected to benefit equally from the new hospital," EBRD added.

According to the EBRD, the European Investment Bank is also supporting the project with €120 million (around $134 million) .

Investors in the project include South Korea’s Samsung C&T Corporation, Italian industrial group Salini Impregilo S.p.A, Turkish industrial construction company Kayi Insaat Sanayii ve Ticaret A.S., and the Korea-Turkey Gaziantep Healthcare Private Equity Investment Fund (PEIF), the EBRD said.

Since 2009, the EBRD has supported more than 230 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance in Turkey.