The Anadolu Medical Center, or "Anadolu Sağlık Merkezi," is a private hospital located on the Asian side of Istanbul. It is an affiliate of Johns Hopkins Medicine which is widely regarded as the United States' top overall hospital. Harris Benny, the chief executive of Johns Hopkins Medicine International was keen to emphasize the partnership's future potential.

“Global healthcare is on the rise, especially in Asia and Latin America. The goal of this partnership is to elevate healthcare. Anadolu Medical Center is becoming a center for medical excellence,” Benny said.

The demand for Turkish healthcare is currently high, as many U.S. citizens come to Turkey and pay less, according to Dr. Hasan Kuş, general director of the center.

Kuş gave the example of a Canadian citizen who was faced with a cost of $90,000 for a coronary heart bypass. The Canadian chose to pay a quarter of that by flying to Turkey and being treated at the Anadolu Medical Center, Kuş said.

The issue of manpower

Finding an adequate number of doctors and nurses still seems to be a key issue, John D. Crossley, chief nursing officer for Anadolu Medical Center, said.

“Turkey has quite a low number of nurses,” he said. “The average for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is at 9.4 nurses per 1,000 people. In Turkey, the figure is 1.7 while in Norway it's 14.”

Turkish law states that to be a practicing health professional such as a nurse, one must be a Turkish citizen. “With healthcare demand growing, we need to think about manpower,” Crossley said.

The Anadolu Medical Center staff speaks a total of 13 languages and its international patient population grew 100 percent last year, according to Kuş. Much of this growth is attributed to demand from North America and Europe.

“Still, our region is our priority,” Kuş said. “Our neighbors don't necessarily know this and we need to let them know.”

The Turkish Ministry of Health owns and operates approximately 55 percent of Turkey's 1,200-plus hospitals, with the rest owned by universities, private companies and foreign entities.