Istanbul, Turkey, 28 November 2019 – The newly constructed earthquake-proof Okmeydani hospital in Istanbul is almost 97 per cent complete, and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group has proudly contributed nearly EUR 159 million to it.

Interestingly, nearly fifty per cent of the project’s progress was achieved during the 2018-2019 period as a result of intensely efficient coordination between the Government of Turkey and the IsDB Group Regional Hub Turkey (RHT).

The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, His Excellency Dr. Bandar Hajjar, and his accompanying delegation paid a visit to this modern healthcare facility on 28 November 2019 to get a first hand account of the latest progress of the project. 

The IsDB Group President who had also visited the construction process of this landmark healthcare center in May 2017, expressed pleasure over the near completion of the project saying that “the ultimate goal of this project which has been done in partnership with the Government of Turkey is to improve the lives and access of ordinary Turkish citizens to health care services.”

Nearly half a century after the original Okmeydani Hospital first started serving the people (in 1971), this giant healthcare facility has been reconstructed, fully upgraded and is almost ready to officially go on stream.

This achievement has come on the back of the renovation and modernization drive by the Turkish Government fully supported by its leading development partner, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group eventually transforming the old hospital to a state-of-the-art seismic-resistant healthcare facility that also plays the role of a major center of excellence in Cardiology and Organ-Transplant.

Once fully operational, the newly renovated and modernized hospital can render modern healthcare services to 2.5 million in and out patients per year in the mega city of Istanbul and its surrounding areas where more than 16 million people live.

Apart from its highly seismic resistant structure, the new hospital building houses big courtyards that can be used as shelters in the wake of possible earth quakes. The successful completion of the project marks a monumental stone for Turkey’s knowledge sharing and skills transfer with regard to constructing similar seismic-resistant structures in other IsDB Group member countries.