Mike Honda, member of the US House of Representatives from California, was on a short trip to Turkey last week. He attended meetings with high officials and visited institutions such as the Medikal Park Goztepe Hospital Center in Istanbul, Turkey.
Rep. Honda, who is on the Committee on Health and Human Services and a leading supporter of the Affordable Care Act, paid a special tribute to visit Medikal Park Goztepe Hospital Center, which is famous for being one of the largest healthcare system investments in Turkey. The program lasted for four hours, during which Representative Honda had a chance to visit the complex and discuss the current healthcare system of Turkey.
According to him, he was very impressed with the ability to provide highly qualified, but still affordable healthcare services for all patientsof different socio and economic backgrounds. Rep. Honda also compared two healthcare systems of Turkey and the US. He mentioned that there are a lot of things that the US system could adopt from Turkey’s healthcare system, particularly touching upon certain aspects that can be applied to the Affordable Care Act.
Throughout the trip, Mahmut Altun, Director of Pacifica Institute Bay Area Branch, TAA’s member organization, accompanied Congressman Honda.
Later, their visit followed with a trip to the capital city of Ankara. The cornerstone of the trip was an appointment with the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül. During this meeting President Gül and Congressman Honda discussed activities held by Turkish communities in his home state of California. At the end of the meeting, the Congressman thanked Mr. President for his generous hospitality, while Mr. President wished him to have a pleasant time in Turkey.
Mr. Altun said, he was very honored to guide Congressman Honda throughout his visit to Turkey and wished that the number of these types of trips will continue to grow in the near future.
