Establishment of One Additional Regional Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] An additional 'Regional Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital,' which serves as a control tower for medical response within a region during infectious disease crisis situations such as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), will be established.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 12th that, with design costs reflected in this year's budget, it plans to establish one more Regional Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital.

The Regional Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital is a specialized medical institution aimed at early containment of infection spread through rapid patient isolation and treatment in the event of a large-scale outbreak of a novel infectious disease within the region.

KDCA will review the regional divisions to effectively respond to large-scale outbreaks of novel infectious diseases. After prioritizing the target region for additional establishment, it will open a public recruitment for the regional infectious disease specialized hospital in that region around May to June.

The target region will be selected by a Regional Selection Committee composed of infectious disease experts recommended by 17 metropolitan cities and provinces. The selection will be based on objective data and in-depth discussions grounded in COVID-19 response experience, followed by final confirmation through the resolution of the ‘Infectious Disease Management Committee’ according to the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.

The public recruitment for medical institutions will be conducted over approximately eight weeks, targeting general hospitals or higher-level medical institutions located in the respective region. A separate ‘Selection Evaluation Committee’ (around 15 members) will be formed to conduct written, presentation, and on-site evaluations sequentially, selecting the medical institution with the highest overall score as the final Regional Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital.

Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of KDCA, stated, "Through the COVID-19 response, we confirmed that in a novel infectious disease pandemic situation, joint bed response by region, patient transfer and transport, and inter-regional cooperation are extremely important." She added, "The Regional Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital will play a frontline role in protecting public health safety and lives."

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