"If a Child Gets Sick at Midnight"... Establishing Seoul-Style Nighttime and Holiday Pediatric Medical System

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 28th that it has established the 'Seoul-type Nighttime and Holiday Pediatric Medical System' and completed the selection of participating medical institutions.

The Seoul-type Nighttime and Holiday Pediatric Medical System consists of Woori Ai Anshim Clinic (primary care) - Woori Ai Anshim Hospital (secondary care) - Woori Ai Specialized Emergency Center (tertiary care). The city explained that it has established a system by selecting participating medical institutions by region to enable role sharing according to severity.

Anshim Clinics are medical institutions where pediatric specialists can provide care until 9 p.m. on weekdays, with 8 locations (3 in the Gangnam area and 5 in the Gangbuk area) operating since April 18 of this year.

Anshim Hospitals were selected among emergency room operating institutions, with 9 locations (2 in the Northeast area, 2 in the Southeast area, 3 in the Northwest area, and 2 in the Southwest area). Among these, 6 are currently operating. The Specialized Emergency Centers are three advanced general hospital pediatric specialized centers (Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Severance Hospital), operating since May 23.

Additionally, the Dalbit Children's Hospitals, which provide pediatric outpatient services during nighttime and holidays, will expand from 4 to 9 locations. In particular, to assist parents who worry whether to take their child to the hospital even for minor illnesses at night, two medical institutions (Gippeum Hospital and Yonsei Gomdori Pediatric Clinic) were selected to operate nighttime consultation centers from 9 p.m. to midnight. The nighttime consultation centers are scheduled to begin operation in December after a preparation period.

Park Yumi, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Citizen Health Bureau, stated, "We will continue to expand the participating medical institutions in the Seoul-type pediatric medical system in cooperation with autonomous districts to improve accessibility. To fundamentally solve pediatric medical issues, we will cooperate with the government and continuously propose improvements, starting by addressing the most needed areas for citizens."

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