Seoul City to Launch 'Safe Hospital Companion for Single-Person Households' in November... "Building a Social Safety Net"

Same-day support available, accompaniment anywhere in Seoul... Inclusive for all ages and single-parent families
Apply via call center for assistance from hospital accompaniment to registration, payment, and admission/discharge... 5,000 KRW per hour

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 7th that it will launch the ‘Safe Hospital Companion Service for Single-Person Households’ starting in November. This is a ‘Door to Door’ service that accompanies citizens like a guardian throughout the entire process from going to the hospital to returning home, and a call center will be established soon.

When applying through the call center, a companion such as a caregiver will visit the citizen’s desired location within 3 hours at the latest. The service supports accompaniment from departure to and return from the hospital, as well as assistance with hospital reception, payment, admission, and discharge procedures. If mobility is difficult, the companion will provide support during movement, and if the citizen wishes, they will also accompany them during medical consultations. The service is available anywhere throughout Seoul (and in the Gyeonggi Province area upon agreement).

The service targets not only single-person households of all ages but also citizens in single-person household situations such as single-parent families without other family members. Same-day applications are possible. The usage fee is set at 5,000 KRW per hour to minimize the economic burden on users. Previously, low-income citizens had to pay about 20,000 KRW per hour to use private hospital companion services. The service can be used up to six times a year, on weekdays from 7 AM to 8 PM.

Accordingly, Seoul is recruiting specialized organizations to carry out the ‘Safe Hospital Companion Service for Single-Person Households’ project until the 17th. The results of the selection of the executing organization will be announced on October 1, and after preparatory work such as establishing the call center phone number, the service will be provided starting in November.

Meanwhile, Seoul has been implementing various support measures to comprehensively and multidimensionally support the 1.3 million single-person households, which was Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s first campaign pledge, and to resolve the five major hardships faced by single-person households: ▲Safety ▲Illness ▲Poverty ▲Loneliness ▲Housing issues.

In May, the city established the ‘Special Task Force for Single-Person Households,’ a regular organization directly under the mayor. It has launched the ‘Safe Door Keeper’ project, which installs door cameras on front doors and allows emergency dispatch requests in urgent situations, and opened the ‘Seoul Single-Person Household Portal,’ where policies and information for single-person households can be accessed in one place.

Lee Hae-seon, head of the Special Task Force for Single-Person Households, said, “Anyone in a single-person household can suddenly fall ill and find it difficult to go to the hospital alone. Seoul’s ‘Safe Hospital Companion Service for Single-Person Households’ is a policy designed to practically alleviate such real hardships and create a social safety net.” She added, “Seoul will continue to do its utmost to build an ‘emergency and safe’ social safety net for single-person households and to resolve their difficulties.”

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