Gyeonggi-do "Aju University Hospital Receives 1 Billion Won Support, Emergency Measure to Prevent Medical Shutdown"

Gyeonggi Province on the 3rd dismissed reports by some media outlets regarding the ‘10 billion KRW support to Ajou University Hospital and the fairness controversy’ as being based on a lack of understanding or significant misunderstanding of the facts.

Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for Gyeonggi Province, stated in a written briefing that "the 10 billion KRW support to Ajou University Hospital was truly an ‘emergency measure’" and added, "It was an ‘emergency measure’ taken in a critical situation where the emergency room was on the verge of suspension due to doctors resigning."

He continued, "In this crisis situation, the 10 billion KRW support to Ajou University Hospital did not signify support for a specific hospital, but rather a ‘strategic support’ to prevent a domino effect of emergency room shutdowns."

He also added, "I want to ask whether Gyeonggi Province should have just stood by like the central government in a situation where the safety of residents and even lives could have been threatened."

Spokesperson Kang also emphasized the transparency of the support process for Ajou University Hospital.

He claimed, "The support for Ajou University Hospital was primarily the conclusion reached at a meeting of the directors of nine hospitals with regional emergency medical centers in the province," and explained, "On August 27, under the chairmanship of the First Deputy Governor, Gyeonggi Province officials and the nine hospital directors gathered and reached the conclusion to support Ajou University Hospital, which Governor Kim Dong-yeon promptly accepted, enabling the support to be provided."

The hospitals involved at the time were known to include Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Catholic University Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, Myongji Medical Foundation Myongji Hospital, CHA University Bundang CHA Hospital, and National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital.

Spokesperson Kang introduced the situation at the time, saying, "These hospital directors agreed on not creating a case of regional emergency medical center suspension," and added, "If Ajou University Hospital’s emergency room were to shut down, severe emergency patients would flock to the emergency rooms of nearby hospitals, causing great anxiety among other hospitals about additional doctor workforce departures."

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province is also considering active measures using the provincial disaster management fund to prevent the outflow of emergency room dedicated doctors from hospitals other than Ajou University Hospital during the Chuseok holiday and to pay on-call and overtime allowances at training hospitals.

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