Acibadem is the biggest private player in Turkish healthcare and last year opened an office in Romania amid the rising number of Romanian patients.
Acibadem is the world’s second largest healthcare group (by capitalization), according to provided data, and is part of International Healthcare Holdings, an investment by Khazanah (an investment fund of the Malaysian government) of Mitsui family (Japan) and Ayndinlar family (Turkey).
The company has 13,000 employees (of whom 2,200 doctors) and in time Acibadem has developed its own medicine university to train specialists.
In 2006, the Turkish group started eyeing neighboring states to attract foreign patients and if at that time 125 foreigners were treated at Acibadem, in 2012 the number of foreigners had surged to 38,000 (1,000 of whom came from Romania). In 2013, around 1,800 Romanians sought treatment in the Turkish group’s centers.
Ebru Dorman, deputy general manager of Acibadem Healthcare Group, accounted for the rising number of Romanian patients by the opening of the office in Romania, which eased access to complex treatments.
Acibadem representatives estimate the number of Romanian patients who benefited from healthcare in Turkey went past 6,000 and there’s an upward trend. According to ZF estimates, taking into account an average cost of EUR5,000, Romanian patients paid around EUR30 million to get treated in Turkey.
If plans to open a hospital materialize, Acibadem would become the third Turkish group present in Romania, after European Eye and Neolife (Bozlu).
Healthcare companies of Turkey have expanded in recent years owing to public policies in the field supporting healthcare investments. Now, they are trying to expand in neighboring countries either through offices, or through owned units.
Turkey is among the most important states Romanian patients choose to go to for medical treatment beside Austria, Germany or France.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)