10 Residents at Seoul Asan Hospital Return to COVID-19 Duties: "Essential Personnel Deployed"

Seoul National University Hospital "Continues Volunteer Medical Support"... Samsung Seoul Hospital "Must Prevent Medical Gaps"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The Emergency Committee of Young Doctors, led by the Korean Intern Resident Association (Daejeonhyeop), has announced that it will deploy essential medical personnel to respond to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Meanwhile, some residents at major hospitals in Seoul are returning to COVID-19 duties. In particular, at Seoul Asan Medical Center, where a large number of confirmed cases have occurred, residents are expected to return en masse to COVID-19 duties.

On the 3rd, a representative from Seoul Asan Medical Center stated, "As of today, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases has increased to a total of six, resulting in a shortage of staff in the affected ward," adding, "To overcome this situation, 10 residents from the Department of Internal Medicine will return to COVID-19 response duties starting this afternoon."

According to Seoul Asan Medical Center, five additional COVID-19 cases were confirmed on this day, raising the total number of confirmed cases within the hospital to six. The hospital explained, "Although 95% of residents, including interns and residents, have submitted resignation letters, residents have been working in shifts at the emergency room, intensive care unit, and COVID-19 screening clinics," and added, "As the number of confirmed cases within the hospital increased, concerns about medical staff shortages arose, leading to the deployment of 10 additional residents to COVID-19 response duties."

At Seoul National University Hospital, residents continue their duties mainly at screening clinics, COVID-19 response wards, and residential treatment centers. A representative from Seoul National University Hospital said, "Although 94% of residents at this hospital have participated in work stoppage and submitted resignation letters, due to the severe COVID-19 situation, they continue to provide medical support in a volunteer capacity," and added, "There is a movement to continue COVID-19 treatment separately from the work stoppage."

Samsung Medical Center also stated, "Although most residents are participating in the strike, COVID-19 response duties are ongoing," and added, "Due to concerns about medical gaps, residents continue to support the emergency room and intensive care units."

At Samsung Medical Center, attending physicians are actively filling in for the collective absence of residents. A representative from Samsung Medical Center said, "The participation rate of attending physicians in the strike is in the single digits, so they are actively covering the positions," and added, "Residents are participating in emergency room, intensive care unit, and COVID-19 response duties to prevent medical gaps." The hospital representative also said, "As many residents have left, there is a shortage of personnel to handle new admissions, leading departments such as internal medicine and surgery to suspend new admissions or reduce daily surgery schedules by about half," and added, "In August alone, the average daily outpatient count is about 8,700, but it has decreased by about 15%. There is a sense of crisis that the strike must not continue any longer."

The day before, the Emergency Committee of Young Doctors announced on the Daejeonhyeop website, "We recognize the necessity of deploying essential personnel," and stated, "Together with the National Association of Medical School Professors, we will keep all possibilities open and review the reallocation of essential personnel to cope with the prolonged collective action." This indicates their intention to prevent prolonged medical gaps during the COVID-19 crisis.

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