"Enabling 24-Hour Response in Vulnerable Areas"… 10 New Regional Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Centers Selected

Ministry of Health and Welfare Holds First Cerebrovascular Disease Management Committee Meeting of 2025

The government has newly selected 10 regional cerebrovascular disease centers for patients with severe and emergency cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases to eliminate treatment gaps and strengthen a 24-hour response system.

Status of Designation of 14 Regional Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease Centers

On the 16th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held the first Cerebrovascular Disease Management Committee meeting of 2025 and decided to designate Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Uijeongbu Eulji University Hospital, National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital, Incheon Sejong Hospital, Semyung Christian Hospital, Changwon Hanmaeum Hospital, Donggang Hospital, Daejeon Eulji University Hospital, Hyosung Hospital, and St. Carollo Hospital as regional cerebrovascular disease centers.

Regional cerebrovascular disease centers are designated to establish a regionally comprehensive medical system where patients with severe and emergency cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases can quickly receive specialized treatment within their region. The management committee selected a total of 10 institutions through written and oral evaluation procedures from 71 institutions that applied last month. In particular, institutions with excellent capabilities applied from vulnerable medical service areas such as Suncheon in Jeonnam, Changwon in Gyeongnam, Pohang in Gyeongbuk, and Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi, and were finally selected, the management committee explained.

Accordingly, the central-regional-local cerebrovascular disease response system will take its first step with one central cerebrovascular disease center, 14 regional cerebrovascular disease centers, and 10 local cerebrovascular disease centers. The central cerebrovascular disease center is Seoul National University Hospital, which performs roles such as ▲policy development and technical support for cerebrovascular diseases ▲personnel training ▲statistics and research and development ▲prevention management education and promotion. Regional cerebrovascular disease centers serve as metropolitan base institutions at the city/province level, providing 24-hour high-level severe and emergency cerebrovascular disease specialized treatment, early rehabilitation, and prevention management projects, with a total of 14 centers currently in operation.

The newly designated regional cerebrovascular disease centers will play a key role in providing ▲24-hour acute final treatment for cerebrovascular disease patients within the region, ▲prevention management education and local promotion for discharged patients, and ▲establishing a cooperative system with regional cerebrovascular disease centers to eliminate regional disparities in cerebrovascular diseases, where timely treatment through rapid transfer when necessary is critical. The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to cooperate with central and regional centers to provide operational technical support for the stable early settlement of the newly designated regional cerebrovascular disease centers.

Meanwhile, at the meeting, the management committee received a report on the progress of the pilot project for the severe and emergency cerebrovascular disease treatment cooperation network, which started in February last year, and discussed the compensation direction for the second year. In the pilot project, 53 medical institutions participating in the network based on regional cerebrovascular disease centers are responsible for the rapid transfer, treatment, and referral of cerebrovascular disease patients within the region, contributing to the establishment of the delivery system.

Park Min-su, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare and chairman of the committee, said, "With the new designation of regional cerebrovascular disease centers, timely treatment for acute cerebrovascular disease patients will be completed within the region, becoming a model case of medical reform that saves lives and communities." He added, "We will continue to expand the nationwide cerebrovascular disease response infrastructure."

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