Healthcare Professionals in the Earthquake Zone to Embrace Their Colleagues…

Turkey's healthcare professionals are in Hatay, deeply wounded by the earthquake. In this major earthquake that deeply affected Turkey, 195 physicians and healthcare workers lost their lives from Hatay Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi alone. Nearly 40 healthcare professionals from various regions of Turkey have gathered in the area to show their solidarity with Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi and the volunteer and assigned healthcare workers in the 11 disaster zones, to support and embrace their colleagues.

A team of 40 healthcare professionals, including faculty members and students from Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, is in Hatay, which experienced great devastation in the earthquake.

Healthcare professionals, including members of the Lokman Hekim Health Foundation and Tohum Autism Foundation Board, as well as students from Çukurova Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Cerrahpaşa Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, and Dicle Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine, went to the region to embrace their colleagues.

In the city where debris removal efforts continue, 195 physicians, healthcare workers, academics, and administrative staff from Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi alone lost their lives, while healthcare professionals from different regions of Turkey are demonstrating their solidarity with Hatay and the volunteer and assigned healthcare workers in the 11 disaster zones.

Healthcare professionals, who went to the region with governorate permission, not only continued their aid efforts in various fields in the earthquake zone but also met and embraced their colleagues at the Hatay Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine Field Hospital.

On behalf of the healthcare professionals continuing their support efforts in the region, Prof. Dr. Nesrin Öztürk Erçelen from Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine made a statement. Erçelen said,

Prof. Dr. Nesrin Öztürk Erçelen: “We came to share the pain”

“We came to share the pain of the disaster we experienced with healthcare professionals. From the very first moments of the earthquake, our resilient healthcare professionals have been at their posts, providing as much support as possible to our injured and our people. Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi, in particular, suffered the loss of 195 physicians, healthcare workers, and staff in this disaster. Those who survived have continued their services uninterrupted since the first day of the earthquake. As all healthcare professionals in Turkey, we stand with Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi, Hatay, and the volunteer and assigned healthcare workers in the 11 disaster zones. We have been continuing our support since day one, to the best of our ability. However, we still have a long and arduous process ahead of us. The important reason for our presence here today is to highlight the need for continuous and planned support from both us and our country to all disaster zones during this period. We came to embrace, to support and exchange ideas on the sustainable coordination of these supports and reconstruction, and to share our sorrow.” she stated.