Will the Closed Chimnye Hospital Be Revived as a Public Hospital?

Busan City to Announce Service on the 9th... Let's Convert to a Public Hospital to Fill the Gap in the Eastern Busan Area

View of Busan City Hall. Busan City has released the results of the public hospital project for Chimrye Hospital.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Will the Baptist Hospital, which closed due to bankruptcy, pick up the "scalpel" again?

A blueprint has been drawn up to expand public medical institutions in the East Busan area to fill the medical gap left by the Baptist Hospital in Geumjeong-gu, Busan.

Busan City announced on the 9th that it held the "Final Report Meeting on the Expansion Plan for Public Hospitals in the East Busan Area and the Feasibility Study of Private Investment" in the 12th-floor conference room of City Hall on the 9th.

The city has been conducting a feasibility study for the conversion of Baptist Hospital into a public hospital and investment projects for about 11 months since July last year to resolve medical gaps during infectious disease outbreaks and emergencies through the public hospitalization of Baptist Hospital.

About 20 people attended the report meeting, including Shin Je-ho, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of Busan City; four aides of National Assembly member Baek Jong-heon; Park Min-sung, Busan City Council member; the public-private joint TF committee promoting the public hospitalization of Baptist Hospital; and Lee Ji-sun, head of the Future Medical Team and lead researcher from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the agency conducting the study.

The meeting discussed the necessity of expanding public hospitals, expansion plans and their appropriateness, and the feasibility of private investment.

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute proposed remodeling the existing Baptist Hospital into a general hospital with 446 beds at a total project cost of 259.4 billion KRW.

Initially, medical services will be provided in a clinic format centered on medical departments, and later, based on regional characteristics and demands, professional treatment infrastructure will be established to expand operations into specialized medical centers such as regional emergency medical centers and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular centers.

The hospital organization is planned to operate with 2 offices, 2 departments, 4 divisions, and 16 teams, covering 20 medical specialties. The estimated staff will increase from 360 at the opening to 480 within five years. Economic feasibility was secured with a cost-benefit ratio above 1.1, and private investment was found to be feasible.

Based on the results of this study, the city plans to proceed with administrative procedures to establish a local medical center and, considering local financial conditions, will also explore establishing a National Health Insurance Service-operated insurer hospital, pursuing various approaches to expand public hospitals in the East Busan area.

Baptist Hospital, located in Namsan-dong, Geumjeong-gu, was declared bankrupt in July 2017. The first auction was held in January 2019 but failed several times until April of this year, when the fifth auction was won by the primary creditor, United Asset Management Company UAMCO, at 42.27 billion KRW.

Shin Je-ho, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of Busan City, said, "Public hospitals are directly related to citizens' health and cannot be judged solely by economic logic, especially for responding to national disasters such as COVID-19 and providing essential medical services. We will strive to expand public hospitals in the East Busan area."

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