DIDIM State Hospital is to get a new 75-bed capacity building, with operating theatres and an intensive care unit, it has been announced.

The Ministry of Health has finally bowed to pressure from local and regional campaigners to build the new unit on 12,500 sqm of land opposite the existing health facility.

Once opened, bed capacity on the site will increase to 150.

An artist’s drawing of the newly extended hospital building

The additional facility has been included in the Ministry’s investment plans for 2018 and is expected to take one year to complete.

The number of specialist physicians and nurses will be doubled as a result of the increase of the current situation, together with intensive care and supplementary services.

Modern operating theatres and the addition of an intensive care unit will minimize patient outflow from the town to the likes of Soke and Aydin.

Where the new building will be (middle to bottom right) in relation to the existing hospital

The news was unveiled by the Aydin Governor Yavuz Selim Köşger. It comes several months after a campaign was launched to improve facilities and increase bed capacity at Didim Hospital.