My journey in healthcare

More than a profession

There are certain professions that are not just a job; they transform you, shape you, and over time even blend into the rhythm of your heart. The health sector is exactly this kind of journey… I started walking this path 34 years ago. With every step, I relearned not just what it means to manage, but what it means to be human and to touch a human life.

First steps, great lessons

Among my first stops were valuable institutions such as International Hospital, Amerikan Hastanesi and Yaşamkent. I then set out on a long and productive journey at Acıbadem Healthcare Group. I took part in numerous hospital openings, each requiring great effort, meticulousness and team spirit. I completed my role as deputy general manager at a time when the group had grown to 9 hospitals, 24 branches, an insurance company, a university and international health projects. This was an important experience, but my story did not end there.

Witnessing the birth of a brand

For the past 13 years, I have been under the roof of Liv Hospital, of which I am a founder. This brand, whose birth I accompanied in 2012, was officially launched in 2013. It has been like raising a newborn baby… a process that required renewed attention, care, patience and vision every single day. Today we are talking about a structure that has grown to 10 hospitals, both at home and abroad. Behind this success lies not only strategic planning, but a team that works with sincerity, an approach built on ethical values, and a patient-centered vision of service.

A profession that races against time

The health sector is an organism that allows no room for error and never stops running. Being part of this structure means staying constantly alert. As a woman executive, managing this dynamism, and sustaining professional, social and family roles all at once with a near-perfect balance, requires enormous effort. In a sector where working on Saturdays is the norm, fitting the rest of life’s burden into a day and a half… It isn’t easy. But believe me, every recovered patient, every pair of eyes looking at you with trust, crowns this effort with a sacred meaning.

Leadership requires courage

Over the years I have come to understand that being a manager is not only about making decisions, but about setting an example. Making decisions with courage, giving your team confidence, and creating an environment of trust are the strongest steps you can take. Healthcare is teamwork; it is a whole in which the physician, the nurse, the technician, the consultant and the manager all breathe together. The way to achieve this wholeness is not only to manage the institution you work for, but also to feel it.

My compass: conscientious ethics

Throughout my life I have made the concept of “conscientious ethics” my compass. Simply saying “we operate ethically” is no longer enough. Medical outcomes, patient satisfaction, transparent data sharing and a constantly evolving approach to management are today’s essentials. As the world measures healthcare in numbers, we need to move forward without forgetting the story behind those numbers. That is the story I have pursued.

Putting my passion into writing

Another great passion of mine has been writing. “Letters to Thirty,” “The Doctor Has the Last Word,” “Compass,” which I prepared for health management students, “Stories from the Doctor’s Bag,” and “The Plane Tree of Ballet,” in which I told the life story of Madam Lili Barokas, one of the important ballet artists in the history of the Republic… Most recently, this passion reached a new peak with “The Journey of a Healthcare Brand,” in which I wrote the founding story of the Liv brand. But I know the road is not over yet; there is much still to tell, many more lines still to write…

A journey from the heart

I am not a healthcare professional. But I am part of this sector with my heart, my effort and my vision. And happily, I now know very clearly: the purpose of life is not somewhere far away. Sometimes it whispers to us quietly in the gratitude in a patient’s eyes, sometimes in a task an employee completes successfully, and sometimes in a line of a book…

Today I still work with the same excitement as on my very first day. I work with all my strength to wake up to every new day with hope full of health…