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Türkiye

Project HOPE: Rehabilitation center opens in Izmit, Turkey

On October 5, the Izmit Rehabilitation Center opened in the Municipality of Izmit, Turkey to address the needs of those affected by the 1999 earthquakes in the region. The 10,000- square-foot outpatient rehabilitation center incorporates modern techniques and delivery systems to provide critically needed services to the residents in the earthquake-afflicted areas.
Project HOPE's efforts to address the needs of the earthquake victims began on August 24, 1999 - one week after the first devastating earthquake struck 55 miles southeast of Istanbul, Turkey. Project HOPE dispatched an eight-person team to assess the health and medical needs in the region.

The team, which included three physicians and three nurses from the US, a staff logistician and HOPE's Country Director for Egypt, recommended steps to address long-term recovery needs. Because the assessment team saw so many people who suffered physical injuries during the earthquake, plans were initiated to develop a multi-year rehabilitation program. A second HOPE assessment was sent to Turkey in December 1999 to formalize the plans with the appropriate in-country authorities.

On December 7, 1999, an agreement was reached by Project HOPE, the Prime Minister's Office of the Government of Turkey, Finansbank, the Mother and Child Education Foundation (MOCEF) of Turkey, the Israeli Embassy and the Israeli Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV) to proceed with the development and implementation of a three-year outpatient rehabilitation services program. Upon signing the initiative, Project HOPE, working closely with the Municipality of Izmit, began planning for the design and construction of the Izmit Rehabilitation Center.

Today, the center is administering essential medical and psychological rehabilitation care for those injured by the earthquake and others who need treatment. The center is equipped to provide adult and pediatric rehabilitation services, psychiatric, psychological and social work interventions, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, rehabilitation nursing care and prosthetic and orthotic services.

Project HOPE has been training Turkish health care professionals - the men and women who assume full responsibility for the care of their fellow citizens - for several weeks and will continue to provide guidance throughout the duration of the program insuring the sustainability of modern physical rehabilitation in the country.

"Aid for Turkey"
Project HOPE
Millwood, VA 22646
800-544-HOPE
www.projecthope.org