Gyeonggi-do Opens Nation's First 'Anseong Rest Area Clinic' on the 26th

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will open the 'Gyeonggi Provincial Anseong Rest Area Clinic,' the nation's first public medical facility installed at a highway rest area, on the 26th.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 21st that the construction of the Gyeonggi Provincial Anseong Rest Area Clinic, which began in April, was completed on the 9th of this month.

Located on the second floor with an area of 223㎡ at the Anseong Rest Area on the Seoul-bound side of the Gyeongbu Expressway, the Gyeonggi Provincial Anseong Rest Area Clinic will provide general medical treatment and emergency care for highway users, as well as guarantee health care in medically underserved areas.

The province selected Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center as the operating agency. Six medical staff, including two doctors, will work there. The clinic hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day of the year without holidays. On Mondays and Thursdays, it is open until 10 p.m.

The operating hours may be extended or adjusted later based on satisfaction surveys and other factors.

The clinic has a department of family medicine and is responsible for treating emergency patients occurring on the highway and administering vaccinations.

If necessary, prescriptions can be issued directly at the clinic. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's notice, if a medical institution and pharmacy are judged to be more than 1 km apart, making it difficult for local residents to use, the area will be designated as an exception to the separation of prescribing and dispensing medicines.

The province expects that the Anseong Rest Area Clinic will also help truck and bus drivers, who usually find it difficult to visit hospitals during regular hours, manage their health since family medicine treatment, emergency care, and vaccinations are available.

Residents of Wongok-myeon in Anseong, where nearby medical facilities are insufficient, as well as some residents of Pyeongtaek, Osan, and Yongin areas, are also expected to use the clinic.

A private clinic opened at Anseong Rest Area in 2013 but closed in 2018, increasing the need for public medical services in the area.

The province explained that it established the provincial clinic at Anseong Rest Area after comprehensively considering vehicle traffic volume, rest area usage, and surrounding medical conditions.

Going forward, Gyeonggi Province plans to promote COVID-19 vaccinations through the Gyeonggi Provincial Anseong Rest Area Clinic and designate it as a vaccination medical institution after separate administrative procedures such as contracting with the Anseong City Public Health Center for national vaccination consignment.

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Provincial Anseong Rest Area Clinic is significant in that it was a policy realized from an idea directly proposed by Gyeonggi residents.

A provincial official said, "The installation of a public hospital at a highway rest area was one of the 32,691 policy proposals submitted by residents to the 'New Gyeonggi Committee,' the transition committee for Governor Lee Jae-myung of Gyeonggi Province in 2018," adding, "After a long preparation period, it has been realized as an actual policy. It is expected to minimize medical blind spots as a public medical institution capable of responding to possible emergencies."

The Gyeonggi Provincial Anseong Rest Area Clinic was promoted through an agreement signed in June last year between Gyeonggi Province and Korea Expressway Corporation, where Gyeonggi Province supports the facility installation and operating budget, and Korea Expressway Corporation provides the hospital site within the rest area.

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