Hwasun Jeonnam National University Hospital Breaks Ground on 'Open Medical Innovation Center' to Lead Advanced Medical Industry

Target Completion in 2024... Synergy Expected with National Immunotherapy Innovation Center

Perspective view of the Open Medical Innovation Center. Photo by Hwasun Jeonnam National University Hospital

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital has broken ground on the construction of an ‘Open Medical Innovation Center’ that will lead the path to bio-healthcare and the industrialization of future medical care.

On the 13th at 11 a.m., Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital held a ‘Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Construction of the Open Medical Innovation Center’ at the site of the hospital’s 4th parking lot.

About 100 people attended the event, including Hospital Director Jeong Yong-yeon, executives and staff of Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, Chonnam National University President Jeong Seong-taek, Chonnam National University Hospital Director Ahn Young-geun, Dean of Chonnam National University College of Medicine Jeong Young-do, President of Chonnam National University Alumni Association Jo Seong-hee, and Hwasun County Governor Gu Bok-gyu.

The Open Medical Innovation Center will be a building with 7 floors above ground and 2 floors underground. The total project cost is 62.3 billion KRW, including 15.1 billion KRW in national funding and 47.2 billion KRW in self-funding, and it is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

Various research centers, related support centers, bio-venture companies, and industrial institutions will move in to lead advanced biomedical research and medical industrialization.

Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital plans to operate this center as an ‘open platform’ supporting the development of new technologies and new products in the bio-healthcare field through collaboration and joint research among industry, academia, research institutes, hospitals, and government.

The construction of the center is also expected to have a synergistic effect with the ‘National Immunotherapy Innovation Center’ currently being built on the College of Medicine campus.

In particular, it will form the central axis of the Hwasun Biomedical Cluster and is expected to become the cornerstone for attracting a national advanced medical complex centered on the hospital. The advanced medical complex is a future medical industry complex where Gwangju and Jeonnam coexist and is expected to be a milestone for regional development.

Also, if various research centers and public medical service institutions such as the Jeonnam Smoking Cessation Support Center, currently housed in the hospital’s main building, relocate to this center, it will help expand clinical spaces and beds within the hospital, which have reached saturation due to a surge in patients.

Along with the construction of the ‘Open Medical Innovation Center,’ parking space will be expanded to alleviate parking difficulties. A parking lot will be built within the center, and through the expansion of the existing underground parking lot, approximately 600 new parking spaces will be secured.

Jeong Yong-yeon, Director of Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, said, “The Open Medical Innovation Center will become the hub of the Hwasun Biomedical Cluster, the only vaccine industry special zone in Korea, and will play a major role in attracting the national advanced medical complex. We will lead advanced biomedical research and medical industrialization to create new national growth engines and leap forward as a hospital leading future medical care.”

Chonnam National University President Jeong Seong-taek said, “I hope this medical innovation center will serve the local community with clinical and research capabilities and become a global center beyond the region. In particular, I expect it to play a central role in leading regional industries and attracting the advanced medical complex, a Gwangju-Jeonnam coexistence project,” encouraging the effort.

Ahn Young-geun, Director of Chonnam National University Hospital, said, “The Open Medical Innovation Center, located between Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital and the College of Medicine, will create a powerful research infrastructure by combining the university’s outstanding research capabilities and the hospital’s rich clinical experience. I hope it will grow into a valley leading Korea’s biomedical industry beyond Hwasun and Jeonnam.”

Gu Bok-gyu, Governor of Hwasun County, promised, “We will create a healing city where ‘illness is cured when you come to Hwasun.’ We will spare no administrative and budgetary support to attract the advanced medical complex and help Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital become a world-class hospital.”

Meanwhile, Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital, opened in 2004, is the only tertiary general hospital in the Jeonnam region. It has achieved remarkable growth, including the highest grade in cancer treatment appropriateness evaluations by cancer type such as stomach and breast cancer, the highest number of cancer surgeries per bed nationwide, and the highest health insurance coverage rate nationwide. For these achievements, the global news weekly Newsweek selected Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital as the ‘World’s Best Hospital-Oncology’ for two consecutive years.

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