The Department of Child Health and Diseases was established under the presidency of Dr. Mustafa Öztürk within the Faculty of Medicine, which started operating in August 1975. The first academicians were Dr. Erdoğan Berksoy, Dr. Galip Köse and Dr. Hasan Yıldız. Dr. Neşide Çetin and Dr. Remzi Topaloğlu joined the academic staff in 1977.
Gevher Nesibe Hospital started accepting patients and providing education in the Surgery Department and Public Health Laboratory of the current State Hospital in August 1975. Since there was no free foreign exchange at that time, the first 5 incubators, 10 oxygen tents, 1 transport incubator and 10 steam machines were imported by the university. The first medical goods such as beds, mattresses, sheets, blood pressure monitors, microscopes and refrigerators were purchased by the “Gevher Nesibe Hospital Development Association”.
The Department of Child Health and Diseases started providing service in a 5-room polyclinic, one of which was social pediatrics, and in a 10-bed newborn and 25-bed pediatric ward. In the wards, Term IV and Term VI students started their education in the same year. Central heating and oxygen system were donated to the Neonatal Ward by philanthropist Emir Tuğbaş.
Dr. Mustafa Öztürk, the founding faculty member of our department, established the Pediatric Hematology Laboratory and department. Dr. Neşide Çetin, who joined our department in 1977, established the Neonatal unit and made it available to the entire region over the years. Dr. M. Akif Özdemir started working as the faculty member responsible for the Oncology department in 1978. In 1979, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Erkul joined the department and began serving in the Pediatric Endocrinology Department. Again in the same year, with the arrival of Prof. Dr. Enver Hasanoğlu to our faculty, the Pediatric Nephrology department and hemodialysis unit became operational. Following this, with the arrival of Dr. Alev Hasanoğlu, the Metabolism Laboratory and department became operational. In 1981, the treatment of inpatients was carried out in the section currently used as a polyclinic building, and as of 1988, the 11th and 12th floors of the Gevher Nesibe Hospital central building were allocated for the treatment of pediatric patients. This section included newborn, adolescent, infant, infectious disease, hematology-oncology, and intensive care services, while the pediatric nephrology service provided patient services on the 3rd floor of the Organ Transplant and Dialysis Hospital.
In June 1995, the Council of Higher Education requested the establishment of Pediatric Cardiology, Endocrinology, Metabolism, Hematology, Oncology, Neonatology, Nephrology, and Imminology Departments within our department. In 1996, the Dean's Office assigned Dr. Hasan Basri Üstünbaş to the Pediatric Cardiology Department, Dr. Selim Kurtoğlu to the Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Department, and Dr. Türkan Patıroğlu was appointed as the Head of Hematology and Imminology Departments, Dr. M. Akif Özdemir as the Head of Oncology Department, Dr. Neşide Çetin as the Head of Neonatology Department, and Dr. Ruhan Düşünsel as the Head of Nephrology Department. In 1996, a request was made to establish a Pediatric Gastroenterology Department and later Dr. Duran Aslan was appointed as the Head. After Dr. Sefer Kumandaş returned from Istanbul Faculty of Medicine with a subspecialty in Pediatric Neurology, the Pediatric Neurology Department was established in 1997 and Dr. Sefer Kumandaş was appointed as the Head. After Dr. Fulya Tahan returned to our Department after completing her subspecialty training at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Pediatric Allergy Unit, the Pediatric Allergy Department was established in 2004 and Dr. Fulya Tahan was appointed as the Head.
The Pediatric Emergency Unit, which provides service within our department, increased its service quality even more in 2001 with a service consisting of 12 beds and 2 incubators. The intensive care unit, which started to provide service in 2001 with a 6-bed room within the pediatric infant service, was moved to a new 9-bed capacity service built in the name of Nazire and Mustafa Patıroğlu in July 2003. Dr. Başak Nur Akyıldız, who joined our staff as a lecturer in 2005, was sent to Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine for one year to be trained in the field of Intensive Care. As of June 2006, Dr. Mehmet Köse was sent to Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine for three years to be trained in the field of Chest Diseases. In addition, after one of our nurses was trained in the Hacettepe University Department of Pediatric Infection, hospital infection control committee surveillance studies were initiated in pediatric services as of the beginning of 2006.
As of the second half of 2009, Mustafa Eraslan – Fevzi Mercan Children’s Hospital started operating and the units mentioned above were moved to this campus. With the transfer of the KİT unit and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology departments to KANKA Hospital, which was completed and opened for service in February 2022, these units continued their activities in this campus. In the second half of 2022, the Pediatric Nephrology clinic was moved to Mustafa Eraslan-Fevzi Mercan Children’s Hospital. Mustafa Eraslan – Fevzi Mercan Children’s Hospital and KANKA Hospital are still continuing their activities.
