Gwangju City to Establish Dedicated Infectious Disease Hospital 'Gwangju Medical Center'

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "Will Play a Revolutionary Role in Protecting Citizens' Health and Lives"

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 7th that it will establish the infection disease-dedicated ‘Gwangju Medical Center’ equipped with negative pressure facilities to build a medical safety net capable of effectively responding to infectious diseases, disasters, and emergencies, and to strengthen the public health care system, triggered by COVID-19.

The ‘Gwangju Medical Center’ is planned to be established in the Gwangseo district (Gwangsan-gu and Seo-gu) with about 250 beds according to the government’s regional medical service area division, and the budget is expected to be around 100 billion KRW.

Gwangju City, after reviewing service projects, reflected 100 million KRW for the feasibility study of establishing the Gwangju Medical Center in the first supplementary budget this year, and plans to accelerate the project by forming and operating a T/F team composed of experts from various fields in the first half of the year to select the site and conduct the feasibility study.

Gwangju has been a public medical vulnerable area without a legally mandated public institution such as a local medical center or Red Cross hospital, and among the nationwide cities and provinces, only Gwangju, Ulsan, and Daejeon have been classified as areas without a local medical center.

In particular, during infectious disease outbreaks, private institutions find it difficult to dedicate resources due to excessive operating costs, and rapid functional conversion during situations is challenging, raising the need to establish a safety net that can effectively respond to infectious diseases, disasters, and emergencies.

Once the ‘Gwangju Medical Center’ is established, the city plans to integrate and operate it with the ‘Public Health Care Support Group,’ a public health care think tank entrusted to Chonnam National University Hospital, and the ‘Infectious Disease Management Support Group,’ an immediate infectious disease response organization promoted by Chosun University Hospital, to significantly strengthen the public health care system.

In this case, it will be the nation’s first exemplary case to establish an integrated public health care support system by unifying various support groups and centers related to health care, which other cities and provinces do not have.

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, said, “As seen in the recent COVID-19 crisis, nothing is more urgent and important than protecting the lives of citizens. In this regard, the establishment of the Gwangju Municipal Infectious Disease Dedicated Hospital is long overdue,” and added, “We will establish the Gwangju Medical Center as soon as possible to greatly strengthen public health care functions and play an important role in protecting and safeguarding the lives of citizens.”

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