Gimhae City Urges "Refrain from Collective Leave, Maintain Normal Medical Services"

Establishment of Emergency Medical Care Measures for Medical Community's Collective Strike

Exterior view of Gimhae City Public Health Center (Photo by Gimhae City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Woo-kwon] Gimhae City in Gyeongnam announced on the 11th that it has prepared an emergency medical treatment plan in response to the Korean Medical Association's announcement of a collective strike to oppose and block government medical policies.

The city plans to determine the legality of the collective strike by the local medical community on the 14th and take administrative action if necessary.

In addition, emergency medical institutions will be operated on the day of the announced strike.

Prior to this, on the 7th, the city sent official letters ordering medical treatment and strike notification orders to 218 clinic-level medical institutions, and in preparation for refusal to receive mail, it also publicly announced the treatment order. The treatment order is an administrative order urging medical institutions to provide medical services on the day of the strike.

According to the strike notification order, medical institutions must report the strike by the 10th, four days before the strike date, if the strike is due to unavoidable circumstances.

The city will continue to negotiate with the local medical community regarding the collective strike and will identify medical institutions that have reported strikes by the 11th to make a final decision on whether to issue an order to resume work.

According to the current Medical Service Act, violation of such administrative orders may result in a 15-day suspension of operations for medical institutions, and imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won for medical personnel.

On the day of the announced strike, emergency medical institutions capable of outpatient treatment include 13 general hospitals, 9 children's hospitals, 8 nursing hospitals, 3 psychiatric hospitals, 1 women's hospital capable of emergency delivery, and 8 public health institutions. Additionally, 7 emergency medical institutions for emergency patients will operate 24-hour emergency rooms.

Emergency medical institutions can be inquired about through the Ministry of Health and Welfare call center (129), 119 ambulance situation management center, Gimhae City Health Center, or checked via the Gimhae City Hall and Gimhae City Health Center websites, as well as the smartphone emergency medical information application.

Furthermore, to minimize medical service gaps and citizen inconvenience caused by the collective strike, the city will establish an emergency medical response situation room from the 12th to provide emergency medical guidance and monitor illegal strikes.

Mayor Heo Seong-gon stated, “While we understand the medical community's demands regarding government medical policies, forcibly proceeding with a collective strike during the prolonged COVID-19 emergency situation could cause significant disruption to quarantine activities, and the damage would ultimately affect citizens. Therefore, we ask for restraint from collective strikes and for normal medical services to be maintained.”

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