First pandemic hospital of Turkey handed over to Presidency of Religious Affairs

Click to read the article in Turkish

Founded as the first epidemic/pandemic hospital of Turkey upon the instruction of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic, the Heybeliada (Halki) Sanatorium and its 200-decare land have been handed over to the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

While the sanatorium was used to treat tuberculosis patients, the building and the land will now be used to found an "Islamic Education Center."

Severely damaged after the Marmara Earthquake in 1999 and restored after 2001, the Heybeliada Sanatorium was closed four years later in 2005 on the grounds that it was hard to reach Heybeliada, one of the Princes' Islands in İstanbul, and the number of patients dropped.

As reported by Yavuz Alatan from daily Sözcü, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Umut Oran asked the Presidency Communication System (CİMER) what would happen to the hospital which had 250 personnel, including 100 physicians and nurses, and 660 beds.

The CİMER's reply read, "It is understood that the immovable with 150 block and 1 parcel no. is allocated to the Presidency of Religious Affairs."

Criticizing the allocation, Oran has said, "The government is proceeding by rejecting reason and science in great negligence. Closing a hospital which was established in 1924, specialized in pulmonary diseases and thoracic surgery and served the Turkish nation for 80 years and handing over its land to the Presidency of Religious Affairs conflict with national interests."

Oran has also noted that "it is a great wrong to try to build a pandemic hospital on Atatürk Airport by breaking down its billions worth of airways on the one side and to not use an available hospital land on the other."

"There is unfortunately no reason or science in the struggle against coronavirus outbreak," Oran has protested further, adding that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government "throws money around by destroying what is available instead of using it at a time when it is faced with the outbreak and economic crisis of the century."

Adalar Municipality: We requested its allocation to us

Releasing a statement about the issue, the CHP's Adalar Municipality has announced that it previously requested the allocation of the Heybeliada Sanatorium to the municipality, but this request was rejected.

Reminding the public that the hospital "could not stand the health policies that changed in post-1980 period, was closed in 2005 and abandoned to its fate for 15 years," the municipality referred to the CİMER's reply and said, "It has been confirmed that some part of it has been officially allocated to the Presidency of Religious Affairs and some part of it has been allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry."

According to the statement of the Adalar Municipality, for years, the authorities were asked about the allocation and future use of the hospital many times, but no clear answer could be received and the questions of the Protection Board as to the intended purpose of this parcel and buildings after the hand-over were left unanswered.

The municipality has also noted that meetings were held with the Ministry of Health, İstanbul Governor's Office Directorate of Health and NGOs in the Princes' Islands to ensure that the buildings would be reopened for healthcare purposes; however, the projects submitted in those meetings as well as the requests for allocation were rejected by the authorities.

According to the municipality's statement, yet another application was made two months ago and the allocation of the hospital buildings to the Adalar Municipality was requested one more time amid pandemic conditions. However, the Heybeliada Sanatorium was handed over to the Presidency of Religious Affairs on the grounds that "it was planned to be used for purposes of education and service to the youth."

Underlining the place of the Heybeliada Sanatorium in cultural and historical heritage as well as people's collective memory, the municipality has once again reiterated that the the buildings need to be used for medical purposes amid pandemic and called on the authorities to reconsider their decision to hand over the place to the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

About Heybeliada Sanatorium

It was constructed on a hill facing the Çam (Pine) Dock in the southern part of Heybeliada (Halki), one of the Princes' Islands in İstanbul. It was designed based on a sanatorium in Switzerland.

At first, the hospital had 16 beds. Then, another building was constructed in the mid-1940s. The construction of administrative buildings and nurse lodgings ensued and the sanatorium expanded further.

The hospital tried to survive with available resources until 1999, it was severely damaged in the Marmara earthquake on August 17, 1999.

Two damaged blocks of the hospital were evicted in 2001 and restored by the funding of the Pharmaceutical Industry Employers' Union.

With a decree approved by the Ministry of Health on August 1, 2005, it was decided to transfer the staff and medical equipment of the Heybeliada Sanatorium Pulmonary Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital to Süreyyapaşa Chest and Cardiovascular Diseases Training and Research Center.

İstanbul Vice Director of Health Specialist Dr. Mehmet Bakar announced that the hospital would be closed and transferred to the city center. The difficulty in accessing the hospital by sea and the lack of enough patients were cited as the reason for the closure.

With its 250 personnel, including 100 physicians and nurses, and 660-bed capacity, the hospital was closed on September 30, 2005 to never reopen. (HA/SD)