One of Turkey's largest health care operations, Acıbadem Group is planning to enter the British market with an investment in London. The latest investment of the group, which is up and running, was launched in Istanbul's Altunizade neighborhood with a $200 million investment two years ago. They also have other operations in several European countries, including the Netherlands, Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
Mehmet Ali Aydınlar, Chairman of Acıbadem Healthcare Group, will represent Turkey in the world finale of the "EY Entrepreneur of the Year" program held by Ernst & Young (EY), an international auditing and consulting company, for more than 30 years. Aydınlar, named the "Entrepreneur of the Year" in Turkey, met with journalists ahead of the "EY Entrepreneur of the Year" competition which is scheduled for June 5-9 in Monaco. Aydınlar, one of the 47 finalists for the "EY Entrepreneur of the Year" contest, is an entrepreneur who has raised the bar of the health industry in Turkey. He stepped into the health industry by purchasing 10% of Acıbadem Hospital's shares and becoming a shareholder of it in 1991. He took over the majority shares and management of Acıbadem, which was serving as a 50-bed neighborhood hospital. Today, Acıbadem is a health care group rendering service with 23,000 employees in 22 hospitals and 15 medical centers in Turkey, Macedonia, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
Since 2012, Aydınlar has been one of the shareholders and board members of IHH Healthcare Berhad, the world's second largest public private health chain, as well as the chairman of the board of trustees and founder of Acıbadem University. The Acıbadem Healthcare Group operates under IHH Healthcare Berhad, which is listed on the main markets of Malaysia and the Singapore Stock Exchange and is the world's second-largest listed health care operator by market capitalization.
IHH Healthcare Berhad, a global brand with Turkish, Malaysian and Japanese partners, holds well-known brands such as Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth, Pantai, Parkway Health and Acıbadem.
As well as their ongoing hospital investments in the districts of Kartal and Ataşehir, Acıbadem Healthcare Group is conducting market surveys in an attempt to open a hospital in London. According to Aydınlar, the group, which has stepped into the Western European market by opening a hospital in the Netherlands, is set to move its market leadership in Bulgaria and Macedonia to other European countries as well.
The situation in Turkey has reduced patient traffic and turnover by 10% inside the country. Aydınlar stated that the segment they are appealing to in Turkey has reached saturation, adding that they have therefore turned toward Europe and developed countries.
Emphasizing that their investments set a model to the government in the hospital industry, Aydınlar said, "When I started this business, the well-heeled used to go abroad for treatment. Today, 15% of the turnover of our group comes from foreign patients. We earned $100 million from foreign patients in 2018. A total of 32% of the turnover of our group is in foreign currency terms."
Acıbadem Healthcare Group grew by 32% ad made a turnover of TL 4.3 billion in 2018.
