Wando-gun Shines with Remote Video Medical Care Support for 'Medically Underserved Areas'

Selected as an Excellent Institution for Supporting Medically Underserved Areas, Awarded the Korea Health Promotion Institute Director's Award

Wando County's Park So-hyun, head of Soan Hoenggan Health Clinic (right), received the grand prize at the Medically Underserved Area Medical Support Pilot Project Performance Sharing Conference hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. (Photo by Wando County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyungpil] Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Shin Woo-cheol) announced on the 18th that it was selected as an 'Excellent Institution for Medical Support Operation in Medically Underserved Areas' at the '2020 Medical Support Performance Sharing Conference for Medically Underserved Areas' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare held in Seoul on the 8th, and received the Director Award of the Korea Health Promotion Institute.

In addition, Lim Ha-yan, head of the Sinji Donggo Health Clinic, was selected as a meritorious person and received the Ministry of Health and Welfare Award in recognition of outstanding achievements contributing to the development of health care and the promotion of public health. Six others, including the heads of Soan Hoenggan, Sinji Donggo, Cheongsan Modo, Gogeum Deokdong, Gunoe Goma, and Geumdang Samsan Health Clinics, received the Director Award of the Korea Health Promotion Institute.

Since 2016, Wando-gun Health Medical Center has been conducting remote video consultations as a pilot project for medical support in medically underserved areas, starting with the Health Medical Center, five health branches, and eight health clinics to assist island residents who have difficulty accessing medical institutions. Currently, this service is provided at 18 locations.

The 'Medical Support Pilot Project for Medically Underserved Areas' is a cooperative medical system that provides remote video consultation services using information and communication technology (ICT) for residents of medically disadvantaged island and remote areas with poor medical environments.

The head of the health clinic assesses the patient's medical history and symptoms during their visit to the clinic, then consults remotely with a doctor via video. The patient can directly consult and receive prescriptions from the doctor regarding their health condition and illness.

Through remote video consultations, residents of island and remote areas have improved the quality of medical services by receiving timely treatment and managing chronic diseases without having to travel to the mainland.

Kim Seon-jong, director of Wando-gun Health Medical Center, said, "We will further improve accessibility and convenience of medical services through remote video consultation services to ensure there are no blind spots in medical care and continue to strive to promote the health of our residents."

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