Gwangju Seo-gu Dementia Care Facility New Construction Project 'Withdrawal VS Promotion' Opinions Divided Tightly

Division: "Withdrawal is appropriate due to changing conditions like increasing senior facilities and additional budget issues"

Assemblyman Omisub: "Problems were anticipated... Public facilities needed as role models for private ones"

Officials: "Avoid unreasonable projects without concrete alternatives, not just 'fully possible'"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, is currently experiencing conflicts with some Seo-gu council members after recently expressing its intention to withdraw from the ‘Construction of a Public Dementia-Specialized Complex Nursing Facility’ project.

Seo-gu is showing an opinion to withdraw the project based on the current situation of elderly care facilities in the district, while some council members argue that the project should continue to meet expectations for the role of public medical services.

According to Seo-gu on the 21st, the district planned the construction of a ‘Public Dementia-Specialized Complex Nursing Facility’ in 2018 as part of the government’s ‘National Responsibility System for Dementia.’

The project was planned to be built on a 2,601㎡ site in Seochang-dong, with a scale of one basement floor to three above-ground floors, and the project was promoted accordingly until 2023.

After purchasing the land at the end of 2019, several public hearings were held with residents and others to explain and promote the project.

During this process, the schedule was delayed to persuade residents opposing the project, and although design competition entries were accepted, only one proposal was submitted, causing further delays due to the need for a re-announcement procedure.

Moreover, last year, with the mandatory implementation of the ‘Barrier-Free (BF) Certification,’ additional procedural time was required to obtain BF certification, which led to design changes, inevitably increasing the project duration and costs, according to Seo-gu’s explanation.

At the beginning of the project, Seo-gu estimated the facility establishment cost at about 5.9 billion KRW, but it has now nearly doubled to 10.5 billion KRW.

Currently, a budget of 8.5 billion KRW, including special grants, has been secured, but an additional budget of about 2 billion KRW is needed.

Seo-gu analyzed that the number of private nursing facilities increased by 76 compared to 2018, and 22 daycare centers are scheduled to be converted into elderly facilities by next year, indicating changes in the era and conditions since the project plan.

Referring to other regional cases, it is noted that more costs and manpower are required for direct management, making private consignment operation necessary, which is also expected to be difficult.

Considering these reasons comprehensively, it is understood that Seo-gu judged it difficult to proceed with the construction of a public dementia nursing facility by investing additional budget.

On the other hand, Councilor Oh Mi-seop of Seo-gu holds a different position.

Councilor Oh recently argued that active efforts should be made to promote the project rather than canceling the construction.

He stated that issues such as changes in surrounding conditions, increased project costs, extended construction periods, rising building material prices, and operational problems were already anticipated during the project planning stage.

He said, “We must enhance medical services for Gwangju citizens through the establishment of a public dementia-specialized complex nursing facility,” adding, “Approaching this from the public sector rather than the private sector will contribute to cost reduction and alleviate the concerns of Gwangju citizens.”

He also emphasized, “There is no representative Gwangju-type dementia hospital to lead the currently private-centered dementia institutions, and various problems with private consignment institutions, such as patient abuse at the director of the City’s First Municipal Nursing Hospital in 2018, have emerged,” adding, “It must guarantee publicness, improve service quality, and operate stable professional personnel to become a standard and model for private facilities in Gwangju and Seo-gu.”

Furthermore, he stated, “The additional budget needed can be sufficiently secured through supplementary budgets or internal funds, and it can be done as a municipal facility rather than a district facility through discussions,” adding, “Although there are many private elderly medical institutions, they are too scattered, so a public facility that can present and lead a role model is needed at this time.”

Regarding this, a public official said, “While some points raised by Councilor Oh have merit, unconditionally insisting on promoting construction without concrete alternatives to the problems faced will not be easily accepted by the project department,” adding, “If detailed alternatives cannot be established rather than abstractly saying ‘it is sufficiently possible,’ considering the changed conditions, construction may not be the answer.”

Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dong-ho yjm3070@asiae.co.kr

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