Inclusion of 'Nexon' in the Name of Daejeon Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital

Aerial view of the 'Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital' building under construction in Gwanjeo-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon. Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City has reset its direction to include the name of the sponsoring company ‘Nexon’ in the name of the public children's rehabilitation hospital and to guarantee Nexon's opportunity to participate in hospital operations.

The city announced on the 15th that it had signed a ‘Revised Implementation Agreement for the Establishment of the Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital’ containing these details.

Previously, in October 2019, the city signed an implementation agreement with the Nexon Foundation, deciding to name the public children's rehabilitation hospital ‘Daejeon·Chungnam Nexon Children's Rehabilitation Hospital,’ including the sponsor's name in the hospital name, and stipulating that when appointing the hospital director or when the project cost changes by more than 2 billion KRW, both the city and the Nexon Foundation must mutually consult.

However, accepting negative public opinion from the Daejeon City Council, civic groups, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare's opinion that the hospital name should not include a corporate name, the city decided not to include ‘Nexon’ in the hospital name.

Also, the provisions requiring mutual consultation when appointing the hospital director or when the project cost changes by more than 2 billion KRW were revised and supplemented to ensure they occur without compromising public interest.

Contrary to this, the revised implementation agreement specifies the public children's rehabilitation hospital name as ‘Daejeon Sejong Chungnam·Nexon Sponsored Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital,’ which includes the sponsor's name. The city explained that this is possible by reflecting the Ministry of Health and Welfare's revised guidelines allowing the inclusion of sponsor names in hospital names.

Additionally, the agreement explicitly states that the Nexon Foundation will cooperate in hospital operations by supporting operating expenses, rehabilitation program project costs, and hospital promotion expenses. To this end, the city established regulations allowing the Nexon Foundation to participate in the hospital operation committee.

The city expects an annual deficit of 3 billion KRW once the public children's rehabilitation hospital begins operation. Accordingly, the city's plan is to minimize operating expenses, secure national funding, and cover the deficit through corporate sponsorships.

The opening of the public children's rehabilitation hospital is scheduled for March next year. This is one month later than the initially planned February due to the impact of rising construction material prices and a strike by the ready-mix concrete transport union. The current construction progress rate is 82%.

Ji Yong-hwan, Director of the Welfare Bureau of the city, said, “We will continuously consult with the sponsoring company to ensure that the public nature of the public children's rehabilitation hospital is not compromised,” and added, “We will also do our best to ensure the hospital opens successfully and operates well.”

Meanwhile, the Daejeon Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital is the first children's rehabilitation hospital to be built nationwide and is currently under construction at 567-10, Gwanjeo-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, with two basement floors and five above-ground floors (70 beds).

The hospital construction involves a total investment of 44.7 billion KRW, including 26.9 billion KRW from the city, 7.8 billion KRW from the national government, and 10 billion KRW in donations from the Nexon Foundation.

The city expects that once the hospital opens, about 6,000 disabled children in the Chungcheong region will be able to use the hospital facilities.

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