"Unacceptable to Accept Collective Action by Medical Community and Residents"… Government Urges Participation in Dialogue

Park Min-su, Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, Presides Over Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting
Public Hearing on Legislation of the Health and Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee Scheduled for Tomorrow

On the eve of the public hearing for the legislation of the Health and Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee, the government once again urged the medical community to engage in dialogue and consultation.

On the 13th, Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for the doctors' collective action and said, "So far, the government has taken necessary measures such as special training exceptions and military service exceptions for residents to normalize medical care and resolve individual difficulties of residents," adding, "Nevertheless, it is very regrettable and unfortunate that no consultations are currently underway with the medical community."

Vice Minister Park stated, "Some voices express concern that the medical community, residents, and medical students are neither engaging in dialogue nor returning to work, which disrupts medical education and training, patient care, and causes difficulties for the public and the government, possibly aiming to enforce the collective will," and emphasized, "I hope this is not true, and if collective action is being taken with such intentions, I want to make it clear that this is unacceptable."

Regarding the public hearing on the 14th for the legislation of the Health and Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee, he said, "The government agrees on the necessity of legislating the supply and demand estimation discussion body to enhance social acceptance of the supply and demand estimation process and results," and added, "We will listen to the various opinions presented and actively participate in the future National Assembly bill discussions."

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, among the first medical reform implementation plans announced last year, through the support project for the structural transformation of tertiary general hospitals, 3,620 general beds excluding regional emergency and trauma center beds were reduced, and 112 intensive care unit beds were added, marking the beginning of tertiary general hospitals operating with a focus on severe and emergency cases. Since the project started, until December last year, the number of specialist referrals between regional cooperative hospitals increased by 56%, and specialist return referrals increased by 233%. Additionally, 32 out of 47 tertiary general hospitals operate dedicated consultation hours for specialist referral patients.

The government is also preparing a plan for the structural transformation of secondary hospitals to ensure that these positive changes in tertiary general hospitals lead to the restoration of the regional and essential medical ecosystem. The plan focuses on fostering regional general hospitals that can meet most local medical demands and have sufficient essential medical functions such as cardiovascular and emergency care, so that local residents can trust and rely on them.

Furthermore, tasks such as reforming non-reimbursable and actual expense insurance, and preparing laws to strengthen the medical accident safety net will be developed by fully collecting and discussing opinions from field experts, consumers, and various sectors to create measures that both the public and the medical community can agree upon.

Vice Minister Park earnestly requested, "I sincerely ask the medical community to participate in medical reform discussions, including the Medical Reform Special Committee, even at this stage."

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