Joint Statement Adopted by the Association of Provincial Governors on the Exemption of Preliminary Feasibility Study for Establishing Local Public Medical Centers

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop Proposed at the 48th General Assembly

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The exemption from the preliminary feasibility study for the establishment project of local public medical centers proposed by Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, was adopted as part of the joint statement of the Korea Association of Governors.

According to Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 26th, Mayor Lee attended the Korea Association of Governors held at the Local Autonomy Hall in Sejong City on the same day and proposed including the ‘exemption from the preliminary feasibility study for the local public medical center establishment project’ in the joint statement.

Mayor Lee emphasized, “After COVID-19, protecting the safety of citizens has become the top priority role of local governments,” adding, “Public medical centers are essential social infrastructure regardless of economic feasibility, and we must accelerate the establishment projects of local public medical centers to secure citizens’ health rights and reduce medical disparities between regions.”

On the same day, the city and provincial governors agreed on the urgency of expanding local public medical infrastructure that guarantees infectious disease response such as COVID-19 and essential health care services for all citizens, and adopted the ‘Joint Statement of Korea Association of Governors for Expanding Local Public Medical Infrastructure and Medical Workforce,’ which included the proposal by Mayor Lee urging the government to improve related systems.

The joint statement included ▲institutional improvements to expand public hospital beds and strengthen local public medical infrastructure through the significant establishment and expansion of public hospitals such as local medical centers ▲prompt establishment of national public medical universities and national/public medical schools, and the introduction of regional doctor systems, regional nurse systems, and public clinical professor systems.

If this joint statement is reflected in government policy, it is expected to accelerate the project promotion, including the exemption from the preliminary feasibility study for the establishment of Gwangju Public Medical Center.

In this regard, Gwangju City finalized the decision on the 1st of last month to invest 150 billion KRW in the Sangmu District urban convergence special zone site to establish Gwangju Public Medical Center with a total of 350 beds. A feasibility study for the establishment of the medical center is underway.

Furthermore, as early as October, the city plans to apply for exemption from the preliminary feasibility study for the establishment of Gwangju Public Medical Center to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

At the general meeting held on the same day, reports and future response plans on major issues such as ▲policy proposals for the 20th presidential election pledges ▲promotion and response to the second phase of fiscal decentralization ▲progress on the Central-Local Cooperation Council ▲institutional improvements for establishing a genuine autonomous policing system ▲regional-linked university cooperation and function transfer plans were also discussed.

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