Seoul National University Hospital Internal Medicine Reduces Services from 31st..."Unavoidable Situation, Not Participation in Strike" (Update)

On the 27th, medical staff are moving around at the Emergency Medical Center of Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Seulgi Kim] Seoul National University Hospital will reduce outpatient internal medicine services starting from the 31st. This measure comes as a response to the increased burden caused by work gaps due to the strike of fellows and residents.

On the morning of the 28th, Seoul National University Hospital held a meeting with department heads and decided on this course of action, judging that the workload of internal medicine professors has increased.

The hospital stated, "Although discussions about reducing work have been ongoing since the strike of residents and fellows, this is absolutely not a strike."

Currently, internal medicine professors are responsible for outpatient care, inpatient care in internal medicine wards, emergency patients, critical patients, management of COVID-19 patients, and night shifts, all affected by the strike.

In particular, the internal medicine department handles many severe patients such as cancer patients and infectious disease care like COVID-19 patients, resulting in a heavy workload for the professors. There are also many patients visiting for chronic diseases.

The hospital emphasized that due to the increased workload of professors, they plan to adjust services to focus on emergency and severe patients going forward.

Earlier, following the indefinite strike of residents on the 21st and the recent collective action by fellows, Seoul National University Hospital has been adjusting outpatient schedules and reducing surgeries.

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