Operating rooms in Çapa Medicine Faculty to be relocated

ISTANBUL

Negotiations are ongoing over the relocation of surgical services in the Çapa campus, where many heavily damaged buildings are located, Istanbul University’s Medicine Faculty Rectorate has announced.

The continuation of health services despite the heavily damaged buildings at Çapa Medical Faculty, one of the leading medical faculties of the country, came to the agenda once again, as the devastating earthquakes in the Türkiye’s south caused panic in Istanbul, which is under the threat of a major quake.

While making a statement regarding the damaged building in the faculty, the rectorate stated that the building renovation works on the campus continue and that the operating rooms are likely to be moved to other earthquake-resistant public or university hospitals.

Doctors afraid of treating patients

On the other hand, students, interns and doctors gathered in front of the Basic Medical Sciences building to express their expectations for an urgent solution, stating that they are afraid of entering risky buildings and taking care of patients.

“As Çapa’s employees and students, we no longer want to live with the fear of an earthquake. We want an immediate solution. This solution is essential for Çapa and its patients.”

In 2013, the university’s Civil Engineering Department conducted a study to examine the earthquake resistance of the buildings on the Çapa campus.

In this study, 56 out of 102 buildings were inspected, with 17 buildings reported to be at “very high risk,” 33 buildings at “high risk,” two buildings at “medium risk,” three buildings at “minimum risk” and one building at “low risk.”

Although it has been 10 years since this report was prepared, it is claimed that the danger persists in some buildings on the campus.

Except for six buildings, where structure reinforcement works were carried out, no measures have been taken so far.

“We spend more time here than at home. We know about the report in 2013. If we get caught in an earthquake here, death will find us all,” nutritionist Dr. Bahar Eryaşar said.

Istanbul University stated that 30 percent of the buildings constituting the Çapa campus have been renovated or strengthened, adding that this ratio will increase to 60 percent by the middle of 2023.

According to the statement, in the next one and a half years, almost all of the buildings on the campus will be renovated, strengthened, or relocated.

Haseki Cardiology Institute Hospital affiliated with Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Medicine Faculty has stopped accepting patients due to earthquake risk.

Meanwhile, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu called for the acceleration of the process of making the city resistant to earthquakes.

He also stated that nearly 100,000 applications were received for rapid building inspections.