"Citizen Lives Come First"... Gumi City Actively Addresses Medical Gaps Using Disaster Management Funds

Two Training Hospitals with Resident Resignations to Receive 300 Million Won in Disaster Management Funds

Funds to Cover New Medical Staff Recruitment and Overtime Pay for Existing Personnel

Gumi City in North Gyeongsang Province will provide 300 million KRW from its disaster management fund to training hospitals, becoming the first basic local government to do so in order to protect citizens' lives and actively address the issue of medical service gaps.

Soonchunhyang Gumi Hospital.

This support is directed at Soonchunhyang Gumi Hospital and Gumi CHA Hospital, both training hospitals facing difficulties due to the resignation of resident doctors, and is an urgent measure to maintain the essential medical system.

Gumi Cha Hospital.

With the recent prolonged collective action by doctors forcing local training hospitals into emergency management, the city decided to provide disaster management funds to prevent the collapse of the essential medical system. The fund will be allocated immediately after review by the Local Subsidy Management Committee and the Disaster Management Fund Operation Deliberation Committee.

Currently, government support is focused on tertiary general hospitals and public medical institutions, causing training hospitals classified as general hospitals to suffer deepening financial deficits. As a result, training hospitals are operating at only around 60% bed occupancy due to the absence of resident doctors, with a sharp decline in patient numbers leading to reduced inpatient facilities and unpaid leave for staff, further worsening management difficulties.

The funds provided will be used for the cost of hiring new medical staff and overtime allowances for existing personnel who have continued to care for patients. As competition among local governments to recruit medical professionals intensifies, this is expected to minimize harm to critical and emergency patients.

A representative from the training hospitals stated, "We are grateful to Gumi City for reflecting the voices from the field amid increasing fatigue among medical staff, and we will work together to normalize the medical system."

Mayor Kim Jangho said, "I am thankful to the medical staff who continue to provide care under difficult circumstances," adding, "We will do everything possible to ensure that the two training hospitals maintain a normal emergency medical system so that citizens can receive medical services with peace of mind."

The city has been operating an emergency medical response situation room since February 8, and on February 23 established a Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to focus on minimizing medical service gaps.

The city monitors the status of emergency rooms and inpatients daily and maintains constant discussions to ensure the rapid operation of the emergency transfer system through a hotline with the Emergency Medical Council, Gumi Fire Station, and the heads of the training hospitals.

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