Geumcheon-gu Operates 24-Hour Public Beds for Psychiatric Emergency Patients

Yonsei Seoul Hospital, Geumcheon Police Station, and Geumcheon Fire Station Sign MOU... Timely Treatment and Rapid Admission Support for Psychiatric Emergency Patients

Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yu Seong-hoon) signed a business agreement on the 12th with Yonsei Seoul Hospital (Director Jang Hyuk-jin), Geumcheon Police Station (Chief Choi Jin-tae), and Geumcheon Fire Station (Chief Jeong Jin-gi) to jointly respond to mental health emergencies by operating a ‘Public Bed for Psychiatric Emergency Admission’.

The ‘Public Bed for Psychiatric Emergency Admission’ refers to hospital beds that can be used for the rapid emergency admission of psychiatric patients who may pose a danger to themselves or others. Although the number of psychiatric emergency admissions has been increasing annually, there is a shortage of medical institutions that can admit patients during nighttime or holidays.

To address this, the district established a legal foundation by enacting the ‘Ordinance on the Establishment of a Mental Health Crisis Response System in Geumcheon-gu’ in December 2022. Subsequently, since January of this year, Yonsei Seoul Hospital has been designated as a medical institution for the ‘Public Bed for Psychiatric Emergency Admission’ and has been operating 24 hours a day. This facility is exclusively available to residents of Geumcheon-gu.

Additionally, to provide appropriate responses and services to psychiatric emergency patients, a consultative body has been formed and will be operated in collaboration with related organizations, including Geumcheon Police Station and Geumcheon Fire Station. Geumcheon-gu provides administrative and financial support for the operation of the ‘Public Bed for Psychiatric Emergency Admission.’ Geumcheon Police Station can refer psychiatric patients with risks to designated medical institutions for admission, and Geumcheon Fire Station supports on-site dispatch and patient transport.

Yu Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, stated, "Timely treatment and rapid admission of psychiatric patients are now possible, preventing unnecessary administrative waste such as hospital rounds for emergency admissions. We will take the lead in strengthening the community safety net through swift responses to psychiatric emergencies."

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