The first medical clinic aimed only at immigrant patients will open next month in Amsterdam. The name of the institution is Vatan ("motherland") and it's being established by a number of specialists, mainly of Turkish origin, pediatrician Sukru Genco, one of the founders, told TV program Nieuwsuur on Monday.
Insurance service Agis says that every year about 30,000 Turks turn to a Turkish hospital during their summer vacation. Vatan Clinic says on their site that some of the Turkish immigrants don't feel they're understood by the Dutch medical staff and seek help in their land of origin, often due to insufficient knowledge of Dutch.
Pediatrician Genco said in the broadcast that Turkish hospitals sometimes give more care than is really needed: they give more medication, more examinations, but also superfluous operations. With Agis as a financier, Vatan Clinic wants to slow down the flow of Turkish patients to Turkey and fight the over-treatment in that country.
The founders conducted market research to see whether there's interest in treatment in the Netherlands. According to Genco, 90% of the Turks who now go to Turkey for treatment say they'll prefer treatment in the Netherlands if there would be a clinic like Vatan.
Vatan already has circumcisions clinics, with branches in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Apeldoorn.
Source: Telegraaf (Dutch)
