Siemens Healthineers Commissioned to Provide Lab Services for Turkish Hospitals

Siemens Healthineers has entered into a five-year contract to take over the clinical laboratory service operations for two new hospitals in Turkey. The hospitals in Bilkent, Ankara, and in Mersin are being built and operated as Public Private Partnership (PPP) by DiA Construction, a subsidiary of DiA, for the Turkish Ministry of Health.

The new hospitals are expected to improve healthcare as part of a Turkish government program to restructure the country's healthcare system, which began in 2003. According to the Turkish government, the Bilkent health campus, which has nearly 3,800 beds and an affiliated hotel, congress center and commercial area, is the largest project in the healthcare sector to be ever constructed from scratch in the country. From mid-2018, over 10,000 medical staff will manage almost 25,000 patients daily at the Bilkent health campus, while the hospital in Mersin, which became operational towards the end of January 2017, will hold about 1,300 beds.

Siemens Healthineers will operate the laboratories at both the hospitals in partnership with lab doctors from Turkey's Ministry of Health. The company will assume the laboratory services for biochemistry, microbiology, hematology, immunology, emergency, genetics, pathology and point of care testing within these hospitals. It also will provide the design, medical and technical equipment, appliances, consumables, service and maintenance, apart from the laboratory technical staff. The contract is expected to grant minimum revenue of nearly Euro 30 million, based on guaranteed annual test volumes, and is likely to surpass Euro 100 million, based on anticipated test volumes.

"It was important for us to have a partner that not only came with enough experience in the hospital environment, but also was strong on technical innovation," said Hakan Adanalı, Director of Clinical Support Services in DiA. "We expect, that around 92 million patients will benefit from the partnership over the next five years."

"This project combines our expertise in equipping laboratories with our service portfolio. It is a milestone for us and, at the same time, also a proof point for how we enable our customers to meet their current challenges and to excel in their respective environments. The new business model is designed to support our customers in increasing efficiency and containing costs right from the beginning," said Bernd Montag, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Healthineers. "We have developed a customized solution for our partner DiA and the Turkish Ministry of Health that will comprehensively support their clinical business. This order will strengthen our portfolio and is consistent with our strategy."