Hwasun-gun Achieves 17,785 Test Results in Village Doctor System

Gubokgyu County Governor: "I Will Not Lose My Original Intention and Will Serve with a Humble Attitude in County Administration"

On the 6th, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that since the implementation of the Village Doctor system until March of this year, a cumulative total of 17,785 tests have been conducted, contributing to the health improvement of the residents.

The Hwasun-gun Village Doctor system consists of a total of 62 personnel, including 25 public health doctors (11 medical doctors, 11 Korean medicine doctors, and 3 dentists) from the Hwasun-gun Public Health Center, 12 health branches, and 13 health clinics, along with 37 healthcare workers such as nurses.

Each health branch or health clinic visits village halls or senior centers once a week on a rotating basis to provide medical treatment and care activities targeting the elderly.

This project was adopted as a pledge of the 8th local government administration to provide sufficient medical services to patients who have difficulty visiting medical institutions due to mobility issues, aiming to improve the health of marginalized groups in medically underserved areas and alleviate their economic burdens.

The Village Doctor medical team was formed in July last year, the launch year of the 8th local government administration, and by December, they had provided 433 medical consultations and conducted 11,423 tests for 6,272 people.

Since reactivating the team in February this year, they have conducted 170 medical consultations and 6,362 tests for 2,303 people over two months until March.

Based on cumulative data from the initial implementation date, the team has provided 603 medical consultations and conducted 17,785 tests for 8,575 residents, proving the effectiveness of closing medical gaps in medically underserved areas and among vulnerable groups.

In particular, a total of 610 home-visit health management services have been provided since the implementation date for those with mobility difficulties who find walking challenging.

Alongside this, health exercises and health education sessions (464 sessions/7,894 participants) are conducted at village halls or senior centers, as well as programs for dementia and cerebrovascular disease prevention (110 sessions/1,374 participants), striving to improve service satisfaction.

The medical team assesses health status through tests such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol, providing customized medical programs tailored by age and disease type.

For chronic degenerative diseases, various health education programs are also conducted to enhance patients’ self-management abilities in daily life.

They provide guidance on national health screenings, cerebrovascular disease prevention education, early dementia screening, and depending on the clinic, conduct horticultural activities such as planting flowers in mini pots, happy dance, health exercises, and various dementia prevention and elderly emotional stability and health promotion programs. Additionally, some patients receive necessary medicines for disinfection and wound treatment.

Compared to the existing ‘mobile health branches,’ this project significantly expands the workforce and medical specialties involved, differentiating itself as a kind of regular ‘integrated health care service’ and improving the quality of service, which is a key feature of this project.

A county official said, “The elderly are grateful because the medical team comes directly to them even when they are resting,” adding, “Especially, the response from the elderly participating in the programs has been very positive, so we will continue to serve them with greater dedication.”

County Governor Go Bok-gyu stated, “During the last local election, while visiting village halls and senior centers, some elderly people complained about mobility difficulties as they could not sit properly and had to stretch their legs while eating. After becoming governor, this motivated me to quickly implement the Village Doctor system and support the installation of standing tables in senior centers,” and added, “I will continue to serve the residents with the same dedication and commitment to local governance without losing the initial spirit.”

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