Friday, January 13, 2012

To The Doctor!

Chris has had this weird thing on his arm for almost two weeks now. It was getting a little gross so he made an appointment with a doctor at the American Hastanesi! This is supposed to the best hospital, like, ever. So I offered to accompany Chris for his own sake but also to see the inside. 


Ok, it wasn't that pretty or anything. Chris got good service and is on the road to recovery and everything, but the hospital itself is nothing to write home about (although I kind of am, haha). Before we got there I thought that it was going to be staffed by Americans, or something like that. It turns out that it really doesn't have any ties to America. The staff is not American but everyone speaks English. Chris found out from his doctor that the hospital was founded in 1920 as an American military hospital, and it was purchased by Koç in 1995. Their intention was to make it the best private hospital in the country. It's reputation definitely precedes it, but the facilities were not that special. 

In one way, it's predictable that a hospital would use "American" to promote a hospital. In Turkey, like much of the world, American is synonymous with modernity (whether deserved or not). And it makes total sense that a private hospital would use the American "brand" to imply that America has something to do with the hospital. 

I know that countries' names aren't trademarked or anything but it seems dishonest to call a hospital "American" when it's not. Sure it has American roots, but it seems that "American" was left in the title to convey more legitimacy over the other hospitals in the city. 

Finally, know that I'm judging all of this by the aesthetics of the facilities. I've seen prettier hospitals. I have not seen other hospitals in Istanbul though, so I guess if this is the prettiest hospital in Istanbul, I'd be okay with them attaching America to it. As long as America wins. 

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