"Posting 10 Job Announcements to Raise Annual Salary Up to 500 Million Won"…Red Cross Hospital Faces Specialist Recruitment Shortage

Assemblyman Park Hee-seung: 4 out of 6 Red Cross Hospitals Closed This Year
"Concerns Over Medical Gaps for Vulnerable Groups When Public Medical Institutions Close"

The Red Cross Hospital, which plays a key role in public health care, has been frequently closing due to a shortage of doctors, leading to medical service gaps for vulnerable groups. Despite raising salaries and posting job openings multiple times, hiring specialists remains difficult, and the turnover rate is also at a serious level.

On the 17th, Park Heeseung, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed data submitted by the Korean Red Cross and found that among the six affiliated Red Cross hospitals, four experienced partial department closures this year.

Specifically, the Family Medicine Department at Seoul Red Cross Hospital was unable to provide medical services from July 1 last year to March 31 this year due to vacancies and difficulties in recruiting specialists. Although they posted job openings twice offering an annual salary of 124 million to 140 million KRW in 2023, they failed to fill the positions. It was only after a third posting with a maximum annual salary of 170 million KRW this year that they barely managed to hire a doctor.

The Neurosurgery Department at Incheon Red Cross Hospital was closed from March 1 to June 30 this year, but after two job postings offering an annual salary of 340 million KRW, they were able to hire a doctor. The Otolaryngology Department at Sangju Red Cross Hospital was closed for a long period from April 1 last year to February 4 this year. Despite offering an annual salary of 270 million KRW in the first posting and 290 million KRW in postings two through eight, recruitment was delayed for a long time, and since August 21, it has been closed again due to the resignation of a specialist.

The Neurology Department at Tongyeong Red Cross Hospital was closed from March 27 to October 30 last year. Despite three job postings offering an annual salary of 291 million to 301 million KRW, they ultimately failed to hire a doctor and have been operating by dispatching a specialist from the National Gyeongsang University Hospital. Additionally, the Radiology Department at Geochang Red Cross Hospital was barely able to find a doctor after posting ten job openings this year, during which the offered salary increased from an initial 450 million KRW to a final 500 million KRW.

Even when hiring was difficult, the turnover rate was also high. As of August this year, Geochang Red Cross Hospital had the highest turnover rate at 33.3%, followed by Seoul at 31.6%, Sangju at 26.3%, and Yeongju at 15.8%.

Assemblyman Park emphasized, "If the closures at the Red Cross Hospital, a public medical institution, continue for a long time, vulnerable groups may fall into medical blind spots. Especially for hospitals located in provincial areas, it is difficult to fill vacancies due to regional limitations, so it is necessary to increase the deployment of public health doctors and improve living conditions."