USHAŞ

USHAŞ, formally Uluslararası Sağlık Hizmetleri Anonim Şirketi, is a Turkish state-owned healthcare company headquartered in Ankara. It was established in 2019 by the Turkish Ministry of Health under Decree-Law No. 663, with a mandate centered on the internationalization of Turkey’s healthcare system and the development of medical tourism. Rather than operating primarily as a conventional consumer-facing hospital or pharmaceutical brand, USHAŞ functions as a public-sector platform connecting Turkey’s healthcare capabilities with international patients, governments, public institutions, private providers, and healthcare-related commercial partners. Its responsibilities cover several linked areas. The company promotes Turkey’s health system internationally, supports intermediary activities for public and private hospitals, and can help address complaints and disputes involving international healthcare activity. It also undertakes healthcare education and provides consultancy related to public-private partnership models, health-system organization, healthcare financing, and the transfer of Turkey’s institutional experience. Its statutory remit further allows it to establish or operate health institutions abroad and to supply medicines, medical devices, and medical consumables. USHAŞ therefore occupies a position between a medical-tourism promotion body, a healthcare-services coordinator, a public procurement and supply organization, and an international health-sector cooperation vehicle. Its role has been compared with public institutions in other countries that develop health tourism and healthcare exports, including South Korea’s Korea Health Industry Development Institute, Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, and health authorities in the United Arab Emirates. A distinctive feature of USHAŞ is its ability to sign cooperation agreements with foreign governments and state-owned companies, supporting reciprocal medical trade and broader institutional collaboration. The company received particular attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. When protective equipment and other critical supplies were scarce and prices were elevated, USHAŞ contributed through rapid purchasing and supply activities. It also became the financier of the Biyovent intensive-care ventilator, described in the reference material as Turkey’s first domestically developed and nationally produced medical device of its kind, and helped support the device’s commercialization. In 2020, USHAŞ was identified as Turkey’s leading exporter in the medical-device category, with turnover mainly associated with ventilator sales. Its pandemic role extended beyond domestic supply. USHAŞ facilitated Turkey’s donation of 250,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to the United Kingdom during the first wave of the pandemic. The company’s work in procurement, medical-device commercialization, and the expansion of domestic capacity in personal protective equipment, diagnostic kits, and ventilators was subsequently cited by the United Nations Development Programme as a model potentially relevant to less-developed countries. USHAŞ’s positioning is consequently institutional and international rather than lifestyle-oriented. Its brand represents the Turkish state’s effort to coordinate healthcare exports, medical tourism, international partnerships, health-system consulting, and selected medical supply activities under a single organization. Publicly available reference material does not establish a detailed consumer product portfolio, a current executive roster, or a standalone corporate website, so those fields remain limited where information cannot be verified.

USHAŞ was created in 2019 by the Turkish Ministry of Health under Decree-Law No. 663. Its establishment formed part of Turkey’s effort to develop medical tourism and make the country’s healthcare capabilities more visible and accessible internationally. The company was designed as a state-owned healthcare organization with responsibilities extending beyond promotion alone. It could act as an intermediary for public and private hospitals, support international patients and healthcare relationships, and help establish cooperation between Turkish institutions and foreign governments or state-owned companies. The organization’s legal and operational remit includes international promotion of Turkey’s health system, the resolution or prevention of complaints and disputes connected with healthcare activity, healthcare education, and consultancy. Its advisory scope covers public-private partnership models, health-system development, and healthcare financing. USHAŞ can also share Turkey’s healthcare experience in coordination with the Ministry of Health, open and operate health institutions abroad, and supply medicines, medical devices, and medical consumables. This combination of functions places USHAŞ in an institutional category that overlaps with national medical-tourism agencies, healthcare-export platforms, and public healthcare-development organizations. Its international orientation has led to comparisons with healthcare-promotion institutions in South Korea and Malaysia and with public health authorities involved in international healthcare development in the United Arab Emirates. USHAŞ also has a cooperation mandate, allowing it to pursue agreements intended to expand medical trade and healthcare collaboration on a reciprocal basis. The company’s most visible early-period contribution came during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first phase of the crisis, protective materials and other medical supplies were difficult to obtain and prices were high. USHAŞ contributed through rapid purchasing and distribution processes, helping address shortages and supporting Turkey’s response capacity. It also financed the Biyovent intensive-care ventilator, a domestically developed medical device, and assisted with the commercialization of the product. These activities connected its international-healthcare mandate with domestic industrial and supply-chain development. In 2020, USHAŞ was described as Turkey’s leading exporter in the medical-device category, with turnover mainly derived from ventilator sales. Its pandemic activities also included support for Turkey’s donation of 250,000 pieces of personal protective equipment to the United Kingdom during the first wave. The United Nations Development Programme cited the organization’s contribution to capacity building in personal protective equipment, diagnostic kits, and ventilators as a possible model for less-developed countries. The available reference material does not provide a detailed account of later corporate restructuring, current leadership, a full list of foreign agreements, or a current product catalogue. Accordingly, USHAŞ is best understood from the available evidence as an active Turkish state healthcare platform whose principal historical themes are medical-tourism development, international healthcare cooperation, public-sector coordination, strategic medical procurement, and pandemic-era medical-device commercialization.

• 2020

  USHAŞ supports COVID-19 supply procurement

  [1]USHAŞen.wikipedia.org

  The company contributes to rapid procurement and supply of protective equipment and other critical healthcare materials during the early pandemic period.

• 2020

  Biyovent ventilator commercialization support

  [1]USHAŞen.wikipedia.org

  USHAŞ finances the Biyovent intensive-care ventilator and supports its commercialization as a domestically produced Turkish medical device.

• 2020

  Medical-device export leadership

  [1]USHAŞen.wikipedia.org

  USHAŞ is identified as Turkey’s leading exporter in the medical-device category, with turnover primarily linked to ventilator sales.

• 2019

  USHAŞ is established

  [1]USHAŞen.wikipedia.org

  The Turkish Ministry of Health establishes USHAŞ under Decree-Law No. 663 to promote international healthcare services and medical tourism.

A state-backed international healthcare platform that promotes Turkish medical services, coordinates medical tourism, supports healthcare exports and supply security, and develops cooperation between Turkey and foreign governments or state-owned healthcare organizations.

• Healthcare services · 2019

  International healthcare coordination

  USHAŞ promotes Turkey’s healthcare system internationally and coordinates relationships involving Turkish public and private hospitals, international patients, foreign governments, and healthcare institutions. The activity is oriented toward medical tourism, international referrals, and the broader export of Turkish healthcare capabilities rather than a single clinical product.

• Professional healthcare services · 2019

  Healthcare consultancy and education

  The company’s statutory remit includes healthcare education and consultancy on public-private partnership models, health-system design, and healthcare financing. It can also share Turkey’s health-sector experience in coordination with the Ministry of Health and support institutional knowledge transfer in international settings.

• Medical products supply · 2019

  Medical supplies and devices

  USHAŞ is authorized to supply medicines, medical devices, and medical consumables. During the COVID-19 crisis, this function became especially visible through rapid procurement of protective materials and support for critical domestic capacity, including personal protective equipment and diagnostic-related products.

• Medical device · 2020

  Biyovent intensive-care ventilator

  Biyovent is an intensive-care ventilator whose financing and commercialization were supported by USHAŞ during the COVID-19 pandemic. The device was presented as a domestically developed and nationally produced Turkish medical device, and its sales formed the principal basis of USHAŞ’s reported 2020 medical-device turnover.

• 2020COVID-19 medical-supply response

  Turkey

  USHAŞ used its procurement and supply role to help obtain protective materials and other critical healthcare products during the early COVID-19 period, when shortages and elevated prices affected international markets.

  Outcome. The effort contributed to Turkey’s pandemic supply capacity and was associated with wider development of domestic capabilities in protective equipment, diagnostic kits, and ventilators.

  Source
• 2020Personal protective equipment donation to the United Kingdom

  United Kingdom · Turkey

  USHAŞ facilitated the delivery of 250,000 pieces of personal protective equipment donated by Turkey to the United Kingdom during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Outcome. The donation represented an instance of USHAŞ’s role in international healthcare cooperation and emergency medical-supply support.

  Source

• 2020

  Support for Biyovent ventilator commercializationProduct launch

  Background

  The COVID-19 pandemic created urgent demand for intensive-care ventilators and exposed vulnerabilities in international medical-device supply chains.

  Action taken

  USHAŞ financed the Biyovent intensive-care ventilator and supported its commercialization.

  Aftermath

  The ventilator became the main contributor to USHAŞ’s reported 2020 medical-device turnover and supported Turkey’s domestic critical-device capacity.

  Source

• 2019

  Establishment as Turkey’s international healthcare platformStrategy

  Background

  Turkey sought to promote medical tourism, expand international healthcare cooperation, and increase the global visibility of its health system.

  Action taken

  The Ministry of Health established USHAŞ under Decree-Law No. 663 with responsibilities spanning promotion, intermediation, consultancy, healthcare education, overseas operations, and medical-product supply.

  Aftermath

  USHAŞ became a state-backed vehicle for coordinating Turkey’s international healthcare and medical-tourism activities.

  Source

1. 1USHAŞen.wikipedia.org