Ten National University Hospitals Including Seoul National University Hospital to Secure 200 Additional COVID-19 ICU Beds

Medical staff are transferring a patient at Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases surges, worsening the medical response capacity due to a shortage of severe patient beds, national university hospitals are taking emergency actions such as securing additional severe patient beds.

According to the medical community on the 17th, the National University Hospital Association held an emergency meeting of national university hospital directors the day before and decided to take proactive and voluntary emergency actions, including securing additional treatment beds for severe patients beyond those already secured under the government's administrative orders.

As of the 12th, 10 national university hospitals nationwide operate 1,021 COVID-19 treatment beds out of a total of 15,672 authorized beds. Among these, 470 beds are designated for severe COVID-19 patients, with national university hospitals responsible for treating about half of all hospitalized severe and critical patients.

However, considering the current situation, the directors of national university hospitals agreed that the treatment capacity might reach its limit with only the beds secured under the government's administrative orders, and thus decided to secure additional severe patient beds. Accordingly, the national university hospitals affiliated with the association voluntarily plan to secure about 200 additional severe patient treatment beds and will seek specific implementation plans for each hospital through meetings of the planning and coordination directors of national university hospitals.

Kim Yeon-su, chairman of the National University Hospital Association (director of Seoul National University Hospital), said, "It is true that there are many difficulties such as managing existing emergency and critical patients and securing and deploying additional medical and nursing staff," but added, "It is a natural duty for national university hospitals to respond promptly to a national disaster situation, and all national university hospital directors have decided to unite once again to overcome the current crisis." He continued, "For the smooth operation and maintenance of the additionally secured beds, it is essential to secure additional essential personnel such as doctors and nurses and to timely deploy equipment such as ventilators and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) devices," and stated, "We will consult with relevant government departments on measures to address these needs."

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