Yoon Visits Busan National University Hospital Regional Trauma Center Amid 'Lee Jae-myung Helicopter Transfer Controversy'..."Full Support"

Yoon's Fourth Hospital Visit Since the 18th of Last Month
Ensuring Fairness to Bridge Healthcare Service Access Gaps

President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital on the 5th, stating, "This is a place equipped with the highest level of expertise in the country. It is a place where only those with a special sense of mission and devoted hearts as doctors and nurses can work," and promised full budget support for the construction of new wards.

On the afternoon of the same day, President Yoon visited the Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital to encourage the medical staff, according to a written briefing by Kim Soo-kyung, spokesperson for the Presidential Office.

The Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital is recognized as the top institution among the 17 regional trauma centers nationwide, capable of perfectly handling emergency resuscitation and surgery for severe trauma patients. Notably, the time taken from patient arrival to immediate treatment is "1 minute," which is significantly faster than the average "5 minutes" at other regional trauma centers. Since 2019, it has received an A grade for five consecutive years in evaluations by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, establishing itself as the best trauma center in the country.

President Yoon has been visiting medical sites weekly since visiting the Children's Hospital at Seoul Asan Medical Center on the 18th of last month. This is his fourth visit to a regional medical institution and his first visit to a regional tertiary hospital.

President Yoon has pointed out, as introduced by Spokesperson Kim, that "patients have been ignoring the best regional hospitals like the Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital and blindly seeking large hospitals in Seoul, while the shortage of medical personnel has been concentrated in the metropolitan area, worsening the difficulties of regional healthcare." In fact, the Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital was where Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was transported after being attacked with a weapon in January. At the family's request, Lee was later transferred by ambulance helicopter to Seoul National University Hospital for surgery.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is visiting the Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital in Seo-gu, Busan on the 5th to encourage the medical staff. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Upon arriving at Busan National University Hospital, President Yoon personally wore a mask and, guided by Jeong Seong-woon, director of Busan National University Hospital, headed to the first-floor emergency room of the Regional Trauma Center, expressing gratitude and encouragement to the medical staff, including doctors and nurses, saying, "Thank you for staying by the patients' side" and "You are working hard."

President Yoon then moved to the sixth-floor Simulation Center, where he inspected facilities such as the simulation room and training practice room. Kim Young-dae, director of the Regional Trauma Center, explained, "At the Simulation Center, we implement various scenarios that could occur with real patients to educate and evaluate clinical judgment." President Yoon showed interest by asking how actual training is conducted using practice mannequins and simulators.

During a meeting with medical staff, President Yoon repeatedly expressed his gratitude, saying, "I thank the hospital officials and medical personnel who are devotedly working at the Regional Trauma Center, a representative site of essential medical care."

He also actively explained the need to bridge the medical gap between the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. President Yoon said, "Although the Regional Trauma Center at Busan National University Hospital has excellent capabilities, there is still a significant difference in access to medical services between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, and essential medical care in non-metropolitan regions has become very vulnerable. A fundamental reform of the medical system is necessary." He added, "The focus has been only on increasing the number of medical students, but the core of medical reform lies in ensuring fairness by addressing the gap in access to medical services between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas and the compensation differences between essential medical fields and others."

Regarding the necessity of medical reform, he emphasized, "Currently, doctors are overwhelmed with excessive workloads to the extent that it is difficult for them to systematically consider and gather opinions about our system and make efforts to change it themselves. Medical reform is being pursued to improve this." He also mentioned the need to discuss the areas, methods, and scale of financial investment beyond relying solely on health insurance finances and requested active input from the medical community.

In response to Director Jeong's suggestion about the need for space expansion and financial investment at Busan National University Hospital, President Yoon promised, "For balanced regional development with Seoul and Busan as two axes, Busan's medical infrastructure must be strong," and pledged full budget support for the construction of new wards at Busan National University Hospital.

When Director Kim mentioned the need for policies to attract personnel and the experience of military doctors being dispatched to regional trauma centers, President Yoon instructed Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong to "discuss with the Ministers of National Defense and the Interior and Safety and implement immediately."

President Yoon ordered, "Do not generalize all the suggestions made today for support; immediately proceed with improvements that can be made right away," and added, "For infrastructure support needs, coordinate with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Education, and others to reflect them in next year's budget."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a meeting with medical staff at the Regional Trauma Center of Busan National University Hospital in Seo-gu, Busan on the 5th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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