Reza jamili
How did Acibadem Hospital rose to the place that it holds in the medical tourism industry?
Reza Jamili, Founder & Editor in cheif
While there are numerous factors that have contributed to the rise of medical tourism in turkey, above all, it’s the role of hospitals to maintain a high standard of treatment and medical services in order to keep the inflow of medical tourists to their borders. We have summarily covered the best hospitals in Turkey before, but today we are going to go in depth and evaluate the might of the Acibadem hospital and its branches within and outside of Turkish borders.
Right from the get go, the Acibadem hospital had an emphasis on attracting medical tourists and to that end began to expand its presence across main Turkish destinations as well as introducing attractive treatments for medical tourism. Today the result is that Acibadem is one of the top 3 hospitals that contribute the most to medical treatment in Turkey. It has achieved great success to the extent that now it is expanding its operation scale to international extents, seeking entry to both Eastern as well as Western Europe.
History and Beginnings

Mehmet Ali Aydinlar, Founder and CEO of the Acibadem Hospital Group
The very first Acibadem hospital was founded by Mehmet Ali Aydinlar in 1991 in the city of Istanbul. The quality services rendered by the hospital in conjunction with its effective marketing campaigns saw the hospital gain rapid popularity and become a referral hospital for the citizens of hospital and eventually all of Turkey.
The hospital then properly utilized its newly earned fame to found new branches across Turkey as well as many new hospitals in Istanbul itself. As a result, Aydinlar became one of the richest men in Turkey with Forbes estimating his net worth to be 1.3 billion dollars.
Branches of the Acibadem Hospital
Acibadem hospital has now grown into having more than 16 active hospitals within Turkey, 9 of which are operating in Istanbul with the other 7 active in the cities of Ankara, Kocaeli, Kayseri, Eskişehir, Bursa, Adana, and Mugla.
In 2010 Acibadem founded its first hospital outside of Turkish borders, in the Macedonian capital of Skopje.
In total Acibadem has over 22 thousand active personnel across its 21 hospitals in Asia and Europe. Together, these hospitals have 3336 operational beds.
Global Expansion Through Asian Investment
The continuous success of the Acibadem Hospital, especially after the founding of Acibadem Sistina in Macedonia, resulted in the purchase of the majority of Acibadem stocks by the East Asian giant IHH Berhad Group.
Since this purchase and with additional funds invested to Acibadem, it has now founded two additional international hospitals, in the capitals of Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
New Strategies: Purchase of Already Established Hospitals in Eastern Europe?
In 2016 Acibadem Hospital bought the Tokuda hospital at the heart of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. After a year of overhaul and expansive construction, Acibadem Tokuda is now the largest and most well-equipped hospital in Bulgaria.
Medical Tourism export in the form of founding new hospitals in foreign countries is a trend nowadays, but such a hospital becoming the dominant medical center of that country is an unprecedented occurrence.
Path to Western Europe, First Stop: The Netherlands
In 2017 Acibadem Hospital finished the construction of their brand new state of the art hospital in the Dutch capital. The exterior of the hospital is one of the most eye catching in all of Netherlands. The entirety of the hospital’s personnel is Dutch.
Although the hospital renders nearly all manners of medical treatment, it has special interest in Cardiovascular and Neurological treatments, and as such houses two research centers dedicated to these fields within it building.
Acibadem now has 21 hospitals active across 4 countries, more than 22 thousand active personnel, and a total of 3336 operational beds.
Achievements of The Acibadem Hospital Group
As a hospital group, the Acibadem medical empire has managed to get a JCI accreditation for every single one of its active branches.
This accreditation is the most prestigious and important to acquire for a hospital active in medical tourism. Achieving it once alone is considered a major achievement, but to have it for every single one of the 21 Acibadem hospitals goes to show the might of this hospital group and its ambition to become one of the largest and most successful in the world.
Related Articles: The Role of Hospitals in Medical Tourism
Acibadem is the only medical establishment of any kind to have its stock regularly traded at the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
Acibadem has a policy of universal interpreter provision in all of its medical centers. The supported languages include: English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Serbian, Bulgarian, Albanian, Georgian, Dutch, Bosnian, Armenian, Slovenian, Kurdish, Croatian, Romanian, and Macedonian.
Acibadem Universities
Acibadem does not limit itself to treatment alone, but also indulges in the upbringing the next generations of physicians. At the heart of Istanbul lies the Acibadem University (also known as the Mehmet Aydinlar University).

Acibadem University in Istanbul
As of 2019, this university has contributed more than 4600 graduates to the Turkish healthcare system and hires many of these graduates in its own medical centers both in Turkey and abroad.
Other than the 23 medical field usually taught in the University, scientific, arts and engineering fields are also taught.
Article by: Parsa Khaknezhad