Lee Guk-jong "Hospital demands money... I can only think it’s ruined"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] Professor Lee Guk-jong, who stepped down from his position at the trauma center in the southern Gyeonggi region due to conflicts with Ajou University Hospital, has spoken about the reasons for submitting his resignation.

On the 5th, Professor Lee came to work for the first time since the conflict with the hospital escalated last month and met with reporters in the trauma center meeting room, saying, "I was often told by the hospital to secure funding (budget), and that was very difficult. Now, I am exhausted."

He said, "Regarding the issue of increasing the number of doctors for the doctor helicopter dispatch, the business plan states that five personnel are needed, but due to a shortage, only one has actually been dispatched," adding, "The hospital set a condition that the remaining personnel could be hired if national and local government funds were secured, which ultimately means they want me to bring in the money if needed."

He continued, "They kept telling me to bring in money for everything, even when nurses suffered miscarriages and hardships, but I can't do this anymore," sighing deeply.

Regarding the conflicts with the hospital over issues such as bed allocation, he explained, "When a bed allocation chart stating not to assign beds to the trauma center was reported in the media, the deputy director claimed it was not true and said the administration team did it on their own, but if it wasn’t ordered from above, why would the administration team recklessly post such a chart?"

He also said, "It seems that when someone becomes a hospital director, they adopt a 'do as I say' attitude like Emperor Nero," adding, "I tried shaking hands, eating meals, and persuading the hospital director, but it didn’t work well."

During the conversation with reporters, he used extreme expressions such as "Even when I speak, I don’t feel relieved at all," "I think this life is ruined and it won’t work in Korea," and "I can only think that it’s all over."

When asked about his future plans, he replied, "I would like to leave the trauma center, but I am not leaving," and added, "The hospital seems to think things will go well as long as I’m not here, but I don’t really know what I should do or what I want to do."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.