Busan City Holds 1st Meeting of 'Busan-type Pediatric Medical Public-Private Council'

Sharing the Current Status of Pediatric Medical Care in Busan at City Hall on the 13th at 7 PM

Discussion on Future Detailed Implementation Plans, Listening to Participants' Opinions and Debates, etc.

Civil and public sectors join forces to address pediatric healthcare issues in Busan.

Busan City will hold the first meeting of the ‘Busan-type Pediatric Healthcare Civil-Public Council’ at 7 p.m. on the 13th in the small conference room on the 12th floor of City Hall.

Busan City Hall.

The ‘Busan-type Pediatric Healthcare Civil-Public Council’ was launched in July to gather opinions on policies related to the pediatric healthcare system promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, seek solutions to current pediatric healthcare issues in Busan, and strengthen regional resource linkage networks for information delivery and trend monitoring by key centers.

The council consists of 19 members from related institutions and organizations in the pediatric healthcare field, including Busan City, Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, public medical institutions in the city, university hospitals, private general hospitals, and related civic groups.

This meeting, the first since the council’s formation, was convened to discuss measures to address the lack of pediatric emergency medical infrastructure and pediatric healthcare problems in the region, as well as specific plans linked to next year’s new projects by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Going forward, the council plans to hold meetings as needed, including urgent matters, through non-face-to-face or written formats to enable prompt operation.

The meeting agenda includes ▲ sharing the current status of pediatric healthcare in Busan ▲ briefing on new projects for 2024 and discussing detailed future plans ▲ and listening to and debating participants’ opinions.

Under the chairmanship of Lee Sora, Director of the Citizen Health Bureau, 19 civil and public sector representatives will gather, including the head of the Emergency Situation Management Team at Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, a superintendent from Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, heads of pediatric and adolescent departments at Busan Medical Center and university hospitals, the director of Dalbit Children’s Hospital, the president of the Pediatric Hospital Association, representatives from Busan YWCA, and the president of the Busan Metropolitan City Daycare Center Association, to engage in in-depth discussions on the agenda.

In particular, the city plans to request active cooperation from participants regarding next year’s new projects, including ▲ support for operating a holiday rotation duty system at children’s hospitals and ▲ support for training residents in essential medical departments.

Recently, due to nationwide decreases in pediatric patients, accumulated deficits caused by the low-profit structure of children’s hospitals, and resulting shortages of pediatric resident support staff, disruptions in pediatric care have occurred. In response, the city is implementing various countermeasures.

In March, Busan announced a comprehensive plan to establish a regional comprehensive essential and emergency medical system to expand and strengthen the pediatric emergency patient care base. In May, it established detailed plans to build a Busan-type nighttime and holiday pediatric emergency medical system.

Additionally, to build a tiered pediatric care system that allows pediatric patients to receive care safely during nights and holidays by categorizing patients as mild, moderate, or severe, the city provides various administrative and financial support measures for ▲ (mild) Dalbit Children’s Hospital ▲ (moderate) university hospitals ▲ (severe) pediatric specialized emergency medical centers (Yangsan Busan National University Hospital).

Furthermore, to improve medical accessibility for mild patients through neighborhood medical institutions, the city currently operates three Dalbit Children’s Hospitals (in Dongnae, Yeonje, and Gijang) and plans to expand to one more location in Yeongdo District starting October 1, operating a total of four.

The city is also preparing operational expense support plans to strengthen the functions of Dalbit Children’s Hospitals and providing administrative and financial support to Yangsan Busan National University Hospital, the Busan regional pediatric specialized emergency medical center, to enhance 24-hour pediatric emergency care institutions at the university hospital level or higher and the treatment base for severe pediatric emergency patients, thereby addressing difficulties in pediatric emergency care.

Lee Sora, Director of the Citizen Health Bureau, said, “To create an environment where children can be cared for with peace of mind, civil and public sectors must come together to share problem awareness and collaboratively build a pediatric healthcare system tailored to our city’s circumstances.” She added, “We hope that through the operation of the Busan-type Pediatric Healthcare Civil-Public Council, related institutions and organizations will share many ideas and unite to establish a more robust Busan-type nighttime and holiday pediatric emergency medical system and form a regional network.”

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