Turkish Hospitality Meets Modern Healthcare Design

LEO A DALY has designed hospitals and medical centers throughout the world, incorporating evidence-based design strategies and sustainable, technology-driven solutions for its clients.

At the symposium, LEO A DALY presented multiple examples of innovative healthcare designs—ranging from large-scale hospital campuses to small-scale clinics and senior living facilities—that can serve as a model for future healthcare tourism projects in Turkey.

Because visitors’ needs will be varied, a one-size-fits-all design approach will not be possible. Some patients will be transient: traveling to undergo advanced medical treatment at an affordable cost, staying for their short-term healing and recovery process, and perhaps bringing their families for an extended holiday. Other patients will be more permanent: looking for a place to retire, or to access long-term independent-living and assisted-living arrangements.

“There is a distinct difference between ‘health tourism’ and ‘medical tourism,’ and the two terms should not be used interchangeably, from a design standpoint,” says Ann Jones, RN, MBA, AOCN, a LEO A DALY healthcare strategist and clinical operations specialist. “Medical tourism is about traveling for a specific type of care, whereas when you’re talking generally about health tourism, you’re talking more about a lifestyle choice.”

Indeed, TUHETO recognizes the term “healthcare tourism” as encompassing four subcategories: 

• Medical tourism: visitors seeking specific surgical procedures and recovery facilities;
• Thermal/spa tourism: visitors seeking the country’s thermal hot springs and spas;
• Geriatrics tourism: visitors seeking a long-term retirement facility in proximity to medical care; and
• Healing nature: visitors seeking a broader experience of spirituality and wellness within nature. 

At the heart of Turkish culture is a focus on spirituality and healing—reflected in its architecture and its plentiful thermal baths—and a dedication to family, which is reflected in all aspects of daily life. Taking all of these factors into account, architectural concept designs will need to resemble a hybrid of a medical care facility, a vacation resort, and a long-term care facility, depending on the goals of the client and unique properties of the site.

“In these projects, the question is: How do we design around three important aspects of life: our personal life, our spiritual life, and our emotional well-being?” Jones says.

Izmir Health Campus: A model for wellness
In one example, LEO A DALY recently partnered with a Turkish landowner and developer to create the concept design for the 368,000-square-meter Izmir Health Campus in Izmir, Turkey, a project that will incorporate the best of hospitality, residential, healthcare, and senior-living design.

The design includes 132,000 square meters of housing, dining, hotel, retail, and cultural facilities, as well as geriatric and nursing care facilities, surrounded by outdoor amenities, such as gardens, a sports and fitness zone, a camping area, and walking paths.

While the property for the Izmir Health Campus is located in proximity to existing major medical centers, it is not designed to be an outpatient/inpatient hospital. Rather, the site serves as a senior retreat setting that would be spiritually and emotionally restorative as a patient is in the process of rehabilitating physically, explains Kevin Donahue, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, LEO A DALY executive director and senior living specialist. The design would support a feeling of “home,” with options for independent living, assisted living, and hospitality for visiting families—with clinical support for those who need nursing supervision.

“Seniors make decisions about where they live based on how easily they can access medical care,” Donahue says. “So if we can expand a freestanding senior living campus to offer real clinical services, we can provide a way of managing a disease or an ailment, while still allowing people to maintain their individuality and independence.”