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Istanbul delivered close to 208 million medical examinations in 2025, underlining the sheer scale of healthcare demand and capacity in one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. Official data from the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate show that the city provided 207.8 million outpatient examinations across public and private facilities during the year, positioning Istanbul as a major global health hub serving both residents and international patients.
According to the figures shared with Anadolu Agency, more than four out of every five medical examinations in Istanbul were carried out in public institutions. On an average day, around 785,000 people were examined, a volume that health officials equated to roughly seven patients being seen every second. This level of activity reflects not only population size but also the city’s role as a regional healthcare center.
Provincial Health Director Associate Professor Abdullah Emre Guner described Istanbul as a city that delivers healthcare on a global scale, noting that services are provided through 216 hospitals, including 53 public hospitals. He said the system has been built up to cope with extremely high demand while maintaining access across the city.
Beyond outpatient care, Istanbul’s hospitals carried out about 2.6 million surgical operations in 2025. This translated into more than 10,000 operations per day, or roughly one surgery every two seconds, illustrating the intensity of hospital-based care in the city.
Diagnostic services also stood out. Hospitals performed approximately 43.6 million radiological imaging procedures, including X-rays, MRI scans and CT scans. Guner emphasized that Istanbul hosts five of the world’s largest laboratories and operates with advanced, fully digital imaging infrastructure. Through Türkiye’s national e-Nabiz electronic health record system, medical images taken in Istanbul can be accessed securely by physicians elsewhere in the country, replacing older film-based systems with nationwide digital sharing.
Access to care remains a central priority. Officials reported that in 72 medical specialties, the national appointment system, known as MHRS (the Central Physician Appointment System), was able to offer same-day appointments in 95 percent of cases. For international readers, MHRS is a government-run platform that allows patients to book appointments at public healthcare facilities.
At the same time, authorities are placing increasing emphasis on primary care. Istanbul recently opened its 1,113th family health center, facilities that provide first-contact care similar to general practitioner clinics in Europe or family medicine practices in the United States. The city has managed to bring the average number of residents per family doctor below 3,000, with a target of reducing this figure to under 2,500 by 2026.
Guner highlighted that family doctors are expected to act as long-term health advisors, focusing on prevention and early diagnosis. He pointed out that family health centers can already conduct blood tests covering 54 parameters, with results equivalent to hospital-based testing. This approach is designed to steer patients toward primary care before resorting to specialist or hospital services, easing pressure on higher-level facilities.
Health officials view the overall volume of examinations as a sign of system resilience rather than strain. Guner said the healthcare infrastructure built under Türkiye’s Health Transformation Program has proven its capacity during crises such as the pandemic and major earthquakes, while continuing to serve one of the world’s most populous cities.
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