Medic postings of bankrupted private hospital put up for sale in Turkey’s Konya

Mesude Erşan – KONYA

A debt collection office in the Central Anatolian province of Konya has put licenses and medic contingents for sale after a private hospital in the province went bankrupt. 

The 8th Directorate of Debt Collection Office in Konya put up the licenses and the postings for sale at a total of 5.6 million Turkish Liras. 

Depending on their branch, each position has a different value. The debt collection office is selling the microbiology branch for 50,000 liras, while gynecology and otorhinolaryngology (ENT) is worth 500,000 liras each. 

According to the notice of the debt collection office, 20 doctors out of 15 different branches are on sale and that they could be sold individually or in a batch. 

It said Konya’s medical doctor openings were closed to new recruitment, adding that the doctors’ values were determined with market research.
 
Reşat Bahat, the head of the Association of Private Hospitals and Health Institutions, said their positions had increased in value after a shortage of hospitals following the closure of some for having links to the Gülen movement, which is believed to have orchestrated the July 15, 2016, coup attempt that killed 249 people and wounded many others. 

“After the Health Ministry stopped issuing licenses, the current hospital licenses saw a boost in their value. Currently, there are 100 hospital licenses that are revoked. These hospitals were closed because they weren’t being managed properly. Some 550 licenses out of 660 are currently active. In the last three years, 30 of the 110 closed hospitals were shut due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement,” he added.     

Turkish Medical Association General-Secretary Sezai Berber said the sale of the posts as though they were “taxi license plates” was disrespectful to their profession.

“The Health Ministry does not open posts for medical doctors. We do not know how private hospitals open posts for doctors, what kind of compromises they have to make to be able to acquire that. Even if you are a millionaire, you are still obligated to obtain permission from the ministry to open a hospital,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Nurullah Okumuş, the general director of the Healthcare Service, confirmed they did not give new licenses to hospitals, saying that the sale of the hospital licenses and the posts were not valid.

“To be able to transfer or sell a hospital license to someone, the hospital has to be running actively. If the activities of a hospital were suspended due to bankruptcy or debts, it cannot be transferred or sold,” he said.

He also said if the license of the hospital was sold, it would still not be permitted to operate.