Following consecutive accidents... Hwaseong-si strengthens review of care institutions

Raise Entry Barriers by Conducting Face-to-Face Interviews Alongside Document Screening

Amid ongoing controversies over elder abuse in care facilities, Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province has stepped up efforts to prevent the proliferation of substandard care institutions by strengthening evaluation criteria. Hwaseong City announced on the 1st that starting from March, it will enhance the standards for establishing long-term care institutions by conducting both document reviews and face-to-face evaluations during the designation assessment process.

Until now, when applying for new designation as a long-term care institution, the city has conducted document and on-site facility inspections, with the designation review committee performing a document review of the application materials. If the average score of the evaluation was 80 points or higher, the establishment of the new long-term care institution was approved. However, going forward, the designation review committee will conduct face-to-face evaluations alongside document reviews to strengthen entry requirements.

Accordingly, during the designation assessment, in addition to document evaluation, face-to-face assessments of the representative and facility director will be conducted to thoroughly review their understanding of the Elderly Long-Term Care Insurance system and the appropriateness of their business operation plans, thereby deeply examining the overall direction of business management.

Jung Myung-geun, mayor of Hwaseong City, stated, "By introducing face-to-face evaluations, we will thoroughly verify the operational capabilities of representatives and create infrastructure that elderly individuals in need of care services and their families can trust and use with confidence."

Meanwhile, according to the office of Jeon Hye-sook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, cases of elder abuse in residential facilities nearly doubled from 380 in 2018 to 662 in 2022.

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