Ok Kyunghun, Director of the Basic Society Research Institute, Urges Normal Operation of Gwangju Municipal Hospital
"Consider Direct Management Instead of Outsourced Operation"
Oh Kyung-hoon, director of ‘Lee Jae-myung’s Basic Society Research Institute,’ urged the normal operation of Gwangju Municipal Nursing Hospital. He added that direct management should be considered instead of consignment to prevent it from becoming a second Jinju Medical Center.
On the 15th, Oh stated in a press release that regarding the financial difficulties threatening the suspension of operations at Gwangju municipal hospitals, “Gwangju City must take public responsibility and resolve this issue to prevent the closure of regional public healthcare.”
He continued, “Due to the government’s financial difficulties, Gwangju City’s main budget has been reduced for the first time in 25 years, and the city claims it lacks the capacity to allocate funds to public healthcare such as Gwangju municipal hospitals. However, public healthcare is the ‘last bastion’ for socially vulnerable groups, and cutting budgets for these groups simply because overall funding has decreased is unacceptable.”
He also emphasized, “Municipal hospitals should not be approached solely as financial issues but should seek broad and stable maintenance plans. Gwangju City should consider methods to save labor costs through direct management rather than insisting only on consigned operation.”
Furthermore, he said, “If securing basic budgets is difficult, indirect measures such as utilizing volunteers in areas other than essential personnel through direct management by Gwangju City can be devised.”
Oh explained that the idea is to reduce labor costs by employing volunteers in simple labor areas, excluding patient care and facility management, which require expertise.
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Oh added, “I hope Gwangju City will promptly prepare support measures for municipal hospitals to prevent a second ‘Jinju Medical Center closure incident.’ While I understand the city’s financial difficulties well, the direction Gwangju must take is to protect socially vulnerable groups more robustly.”
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