Kim Yoon-chul, Hapcheon County Governor, Visits Local Emergency Medical Institutions On Site

Samsung Hapcheon Hospital Visits Hapcheon County Medical Association to Commend Their Efforts

Kim Yoon-chul, the mayor of Hapcheon County, announced on the 28th that he visited Samsung Hapcheon Hospital, a local emergency medical institution, and the president of the Hapcheon County Medical Association in succession to listen to their operational status and encourage the efforts of medical personnel.

In a situation where medical demand is rapidly increasing due to aging population, the government announced a plan to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 students to preserve local and essential medical services. Amid the strong confrontation between medical organizations and the government, including resident doctors' resignations and medical students taking leaves of absence, the medical crisis in large hospitals is worsening.

County Governor Kim Yoon-chul Visits Local Emergency Medical Institutions and Other Medical Sites.

Accordingly, at a time when the role of local emergency medical institutions is more important than ever, he visited to discuss measures to minimize inconvenience to residents. First, he visited Samsung Hapcheon Hospital to encourage emergency room staff and listened to the hospital's operational status through a meeting with Hospital Director Kim Kang-hoon.

Director Kim Kang-hoon expressed, “The most difficult part of hospital operation is ‘recruiting doctors,’” and added, “Especially, finding emergency medicine doctors for emergency room operation is like picking stars from the sky,” revealing the seriousness of the medical workforce shortage in local hospitals.

Mayor Kim said, “I empathize with the seriousness of the medical workforce shortage, and I sincerely thank the medical staff who are quietly protecting the medical field and striving to treat patients amid the recent full-scale disruption of medical services due to doctors’ collective actions,” adding, “Hapcheon County is operating a Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in response to the escalation to a serious stage and is prepared to provide active support in case of emergency.”

He then visited Haein Clinic and held a meeting with Hwang Kyung-il, president of the Hapcheon County Medical Association, to listen to difficulties in medical institution operations and discuss emergency medical measures.

Mayor Kim urged, “I ask the Hapcheon County Medical Association to wisely respond to this situation so that local residents can receive medical treatment without worrying about clinic closures.”

He also instructed Ahn Myung-gi, the director of the health center who accompanied him, “Communicate closely with the Hapcheon County Medical Association to ensure that no medical gaps occur within the county so that residents do not worry, and provide sufficient and easy-to-understand information to residents about the status of open hospitals and clinics and their operating hours to minimize inconvenience.”

Meanwhile, Hapcheon County is operating an ‘Emergency Medical Countermeasure Situation Room’ in preparation for the doctors’ association’s collective strike, continuously monitoring the operation status of hospitals and clinics in the region to maintain emergency and contingency medical systems. In addition, if collective actions by the local medical community become a reality, the health center and health sub-centers (clinics) plan to extend weekday medical hours until 8 p.m. to strengthen emergency medical measures.

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