Namwon-si Expands Public Health Care Infrastructure... Establishes Postpartum Care Centers and More

Namwon City in Jeollabuk-do is recently expanding various public health care infrastructure to meet the changing demands for citizen health promotion.

According to the city on the 25th, the "Namwon City Public Postpartum Care Center," a pledge project of the 8th local government administration, will be built on a site in Gojuk-dong near Namwon Medical Center, with a total floor area of 1,900㎡ and three above-ground floors.

Namwon City Health Living Support Center. [Photo by Namwon City]

This year, the project gained momentum after being selected for the Local Extinction Response Fund project, securing a total budget of 9.1 billion KRW (7.6 billion KRW from national and provincial funds).

After a design competition last year, the basic design was finalized, and construction is scheduled to be completed in the first half of next year.

Equipped with 13 maternity rooms, a neonatal room, a breastfeeding room, a massage room, a mom caf?, a sunken garden, and program rooms, it plans to provide the nation's best postpartum care services to aid mothers' recovery. Since there is no postpartum care center in the eastern region including Namwon City, it is expected to reduce the economic burden on families who previously had to travel to metropolitan areas for postpartum care.

Additionally, in 2024, the Ministry of Health and Welfare selected the projects for the "New Health Life Support Center" and the "Health Institution (Health Center) Environment Improvement Project," which will support customized health care services for residents in various ways.

The Health Life Support Center will serve as a dedicated institution providing health management and resident-centered health promotion services tailored to local residents' participation and needs. With a total project cost of 5.3 billion KRW (1.4 billion KRW from national and provincial funds), it is being designed with a total floor area of 825㎡ in the Dongchung-dong area and is scheduled to open in May next year.

By operating a fitness room, integrated management room, and children's experience center, it plans to offer one-stop customized health management, health lifestyle practice education, and resident participation space support, enhancing accessibility and convenience of public health care services in the southeastern region (Jukhang-dong, Dongchung-dong, Hyanggok-dong, Dotong-dong), where there was no health institution.

Along with this, the city health center is undertaking a full environmental improvement (expansion and remodeling) with a total project cost of 3.8 billion KRW (1.3 billion KRW from national and provincial funds) to establish a constant infectious disease response system and expand daily health management programs.

The first floor will expand and rearrange frequently visited spaces such as consultation rooms, vaccination rooms, rehabilitation rooms, and physical therapy rooms, minimizing movement paths to provide high-quality health care services.

Mayor Choi Kyung-sik said, "The role of health centers in managing citizen health has become even more important after COVID-19," and added, "We will continue to strive to expand public health care infrastructure to provide a better health care service environment."

Namwon = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jeong Young-gwon baekok@asiae.co.kr

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