"Corona Hospital, Risking Lives to Work" ... Governor Lee Cheol-woo Raises Voice at Minister

Prime Minister-led Meeting Discusses Compensation Status of Yeongju Red Cross Hospital
2.6 Billion Won Loss as Infectious Disease Dedicated Hospital with Only 600 Million Won Compensation
"Sending Unpaid Leave Due to Lack of Money Is Absolutely Unac

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, requested a reasonable revision of the compensation standards for loss compensation at Yeongju Red Cross Hospital during a video conference of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19, chaired by the Prime Minister, on the 12th.

Governor Lee said in front of ministers from various departments and city and provincial governors, "Infectious disease-dedicated hospitals in the province are facing many difficulties in hospital management. In particular, Yeongju Red Cross Hospital is in such a severe financial crisis that it has had to send employees on unpaid leave," emphasizing, "It is absolutely unacceptable that they risked their lives treating COVID-19 patients but had to send staff on unpaid leave due to lack of funds."

Yeongju Red Cross Hospital, which treated 187 confirmed COVID-19 patients over 74 days from February 23 to May 6, is currently facing a liquidity crisis and a risk of delayed employee salaries because its compensation was calculated based on the 2019 annual inpatient treatment fees despite its special status since its opening in July 2018, using a per-bed unit price standard.

According to Gyeongbuk Province, although a loss of 2.6 billion KRW occurred compared to the normal operation period (November 2019 to February 2020), the amount of loss compensation received from the government so far is only about 600 million KRW.

Regarding this, Governor Lee targeted the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stating, "The compensation standard should be changed to cover from November last year, when the hospital began normal operations, to February this year, so that reasonable loss compensation can be made."

In response, Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, said, "We are aware that Yeongju Red Cross Hospital was not in a stable operating state initially. I believe such cases should be fully considered for compensation. However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare does not decide alone; the private sector decides through the compensation committee. We will also make efforts at the ministry level to ensure appropriate compensation through active discussions."

The Prime Minister, who chaired the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, also said, "I am well aware of the situation in Gyeongbuk. Yeongju and Sangju Red Cross Hospitals have cooperated actively, which is regrettable. We also need to actively cooperate and resolve reasonable proposals through proactive administration," urging once again for problem resolution.

Meanwhile, in response to the spread of COVID-19, Gyeongbuk Province designated five public medical institutions?including Pohang, Gimcheon, and Andong Medical Centers, as well as Yeongju and Sangju Red Cross Hospitals?as infectious disease-dedicated hospitals, and has treated over 1,400 confirmed patients to date.

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