Seoul Asan Hospital Initiates Voluntary Retirement Amid Ongoing Deficits... Excluding Doctors

Seoul Asan Medical Center is the first among the so-called 'Big 5' hospitals to accept voluntary retirement applications amid the resident doctor exodus triggered by the current government's plan to increase medical school admissions.

The application is open to general staff employees, excluding doctors.

According to the medical community on the 8th, Seoul Asan Medical Center will accept voluntary retirement applications until the 19th of this month.

The eligible applicants are general staff employees aged 50 or older as of the end of this year, who have worked for more than 20 years.

A representative from Seoul Asan Medical Center explained, "We are accepting voluntary retirement applications autonomously under the emergency operation system," adding, "Voluntary retirement has been implemented as needed depending on the hospital's operational situation, and it was also carried out in 2019 and 2021."

Among the so-called 'Big 5' major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area, Seoul Asan Medical Center is the first to accept voluntary retirement applications from staff due to the current medical service gap crisis. The hospital has been operating under an emergency system since the 15th of last month.

Park Seung-il, director of Seoul Asan Medical Center, sent an informational email to affiliated professors earlier this month stating, "The net loss in the medical field during the 40 days from February 20 to March 30 amounts to 51.1 billion KRW," and "The government's support through fee increases during this period was only 1.7 billion KRW."

Director Park predicted, "Assuming the situation continues or worsens, the net loss will be approximately 460 billion KRW by the end of the year."

Earlier, as the medical service gap caused by the resident doctor exodus prolonged, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Severance Hospital (Yonsei Medical Center), and Seoul National University Hospital among the 'Big 5' hospitals entered emergency management systems.

According to the Korea Hospital Association, from the last two weeks of February this year, immediately after the resident doctor resignation incident, until last month, the revenue of 50 training hospitals for resident doctors decreased by approximately 423.8 billion KRW.

In this emergency situation, hospitals have requested the government for advance payment of health insurance benefits. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is currently reviewing this request.

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