Government Prepares for Prolonged Medical Gap... 120 Billion Won Reserve Fund Ready

Compensation for On-Duty Medical Staff and Utilization for Hospital's Own Recruitment
Considering Expansion of Emergency Medical Measures... Preparing Additional Support from Local Governments
Full-Scale License Suspension Enforcement... Expansion of Administrative Disciplinary Pre-Notification Letters Sent

The government will urgently allocate a large-scale contingency fund to support medical administration due to the non-return of residents. This fund will be used to hire replacement personnel and extend the operation of public hospitals, signaling a determination to enter a long-term standoff.

On the afternoon of the 6th, the government will hold a Cabinet meeting to discuss plans for allocating contingency funds in preparation for a prolonged medical service gap. A government official explained, "Although it is the doctors' duty to return to the field and care for patients even now, we will prepare finances considering all possible situations and implement various measures to minimize public inconvenience."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The size of the contingency fund is expected to be around 120 billion KRW. While there is a possibility of additional increases at the Cabinet meeting, the initial discussions will focus on compensation for medical staff who worked shifts in place of residents, hospitals’ own personnel recruitment, and funds needed to extend the operation of public medical centers. It is reported that the government has already sent official letters to medical institutions eligible for contingency funds, informing them in advance about the allowable uses of the funds.

The government is also considering further expansion of emergency medical response measures. Currently, it is extending working hours at public medical institutions such as regional medical centers and public health centers and utilizing PA (physician assistant) nurses. In particular, due to concerns that the scope of work for PA nurses, who have taken on doctors’ duties on site, is unclear and that they lack legal protection in case of medical accidents, some of the doctors’ tasks have been assigned to them, with the hospital director determining the scope.

To ensure that emergency patients are promptly transferred to appropriate medical institutions and receive timely treatment, 'Emergency Response Emergency Medical Situation Rooms' are operating in four regions: Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, and Gwangju. Telemedicine has also been fully expanded. Telemedicine services have been opened not only in medically underserved areas but also in medical institutions at the hospital level or higher outside clinics.

Support from local governments is also underway. In the case of Seoul, to prevent specialists on site from being driven to burnout due to excessive workload and to ensure smooth hospital operations, budget support has been provided to urgently hire on-duty doctors and inpatient specialists. The budget allocated is about 2.6 billion KRW from the Disaster Management Fund, allowing hospital directors to urgently hire necessary personnel at their discretion and shorten the hiring process.

Along with entering a long-term standoff, the government plans to fully implement license suspension measures against residents who have not returned. The day before, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for the doctors’ collective action began sending preliminary administrative disposition notices for '3-month license suspension.' Initially, the plan is to determine return status based on on-site inspections to see if they are actually working, then send preliminary notices of disposition to non-returning residents. The scope of notices sent is expected to expand from this day onward.

Public opinion toward the residents remains unfavorable. In a public opinion poll jointly commissioned by Yonhap News and Yonhap News TV to the polling firm Metrics, conducted on the 2nd and 3rd among 1,000 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide, 43% of respondents said that strict legal action should be taken against residents who did not comply with the government’s return deadline. Those who said the return deadline should be extended accounted for 29%, and those who said no punishment should be given accounted for 21%. Regarding the increase in medical school quotas, 48% responded that the number should be increased by 2,000, 36% said it should be increased by fewer than 2,000, and 11% said it should be maintained as is. For more details, please refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

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