Seoul City to Establish Safe Respiratory Specialist Center for Infectious Disease Response... Expanding Insufficient Hospital Beds

Strengthening Public Healthcare Infrastructure by Establishing Specialized Medical Facilities for Rapid Treatment During Emerging Infectious Diseases like COVID-19
Securing Up to 72 Negative Pressure Isolation Beds, Targeting Opening in March 2025

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 14th, ‘Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Hospital’ announced that it will build a specialized public medical facility for infectious diseases to respond quickly and safely to emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and Omicron.

Boramae Hospital, operated by Seoul National University Hospital, is a representative municipal hospital of Seoul. Last year, it was designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as a National Safe Hospital and a dedicated treatment bed for severe COVID-19 patients, and it is currently securing and operating beds for severe patients.

The Safe Respiratory Specialist Center is planned as a facility that provides specialized medical services for severe and special infectious patients by installing advanced negative pressure facilities and special medical equipment related to infections. For efficient operation, general medical treatment will be possible during normal times. It is designed with a total floor area of 9,986㎡ across 3 floors above ground and 3 floors underground. The main facilities include general negative pressure isolation wards, intensive care negative pressure isolation wards, outpatient clinics, and an emergency medical center. The negative pressure isolation wards are planned to operate 30 beds, with a maximum capacity of 72 beds.

In this design competition, four main basic design directions were presented as design guidelines: ‘Complete Hospital,’ ‘Safe Hospital,’ ‘Sustainable Hospital,’ and ‘Leading Hospital.’ Detailed facility plans were encouraged, including separation of contaminated and clean zones, prevention of external leakage of infectious agents, and prevention of cross-infection.

On the 10th, Seoul City selected ‘Jayeonggeol;Eum[飮]’ (Park Hyung-il, Beom Architecture Comprehensive Architectural Office) as the final winner of the ‘Boramae Hospital Safe Respiratory Specialist Center Construction Project Design Competition’ held to prepare the design plan. The winner is granted the priority negotiation right for the architectural design contract. Seoul City plans to complete the design with the winner by January 2023 and aims to open the facility by March 2025.

Kim Seong-bo, Director of the Housing Policy Office, said, "Currently, with the rapid emergence of variant viruses such as COVID-19 and Omicron, citizens’ anxiety due to bed shortages is increasing, so we are striving to secure safe medical facilities." He added, "We will continue to expand specialized medical facilities that can respond quickly to emerging infectious diseases to protect the health of citizens."

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