Donghae City’s Mukho Health Promotion Center Serves Over 33,000 Residents, Solidifying Its Role as a Community Health Guardian

Donghae City, Gangwon Province, announced on October 27 that the Mukho Health Promotion Center has established itself as the region's leading health guardian, with 33,023 residents having used the center from January to the end of September this year.

Exterior view of Mukho Health Promotion Center. Provided by Donghae City

The city opened the Mukho Health Promotion Center in April 2012, reflecting the characteristics of the northern part of Donghae City, which has a high concentration of elderly residents. The center, which consists of three above-ground floors and a total floor area of 1,342 square meters, is equipped with a rehabilitation treatment room and a hypertension and diabetes registration and management center. In 2018, the center was expanded and remodeled to a size of 1,454 square meters, and in September of the same year, a Dementia Safety Center was additionally opened and is currently in operation.

According to the center’s usage statistics, the Dementia Safety Center recorded the highest number of users with 19,754, followed by the Hypertension and Diabetes Registration and Education Center with 12,847, and the Rehabilitation Treatment Room with 422 users.

This year, in particular, the city expanded the "Visiting Senior Center Health Management Program" to improve access to health management services for residents. The program visited a total of 47 senior centers, providing early dementia screening and education on how to respond to symptoms of myocardial infarction and stroke. In addition, a mobile early dementia screening service is operated once a week at the public health center, focusing on personalized health management.

The results of these efforts are clearly reflected in the numbers: the number of residents using the center increased by about 1,600 compared to the same period last year (31,360 users).

Meanwhile, according to the 2024 National Health Insurance statistics, Donghae City ranked first among all basic local governments nationwide in the "Medication Adherence Rate for Hypertension Over 300 Days After One Year" category, with a rate of 81.6%. In addition, the age-standardized mortality rate for hypertensive diseases has dropped significantly from 13% in 2012 to an average of 4.7% over the past five years, which is lower than the national average of 6.1%.

Furthermore, Donghae City ranked first in Gangwon Province with a rate of 87.4% in the "Community Dementia Management Rate" category of the 2024 Local Government Joint Assessment. The current dementia management rate has risen further to 90.1%, firmly maintaining the top position in the province, which is significantly higher than the Gangwon Province average of 80.7%.

Kim Hyejeong, Head of the Health Policy Division, stated, "We will do our best to actively promote and systematically operate our programs so that local residents can fully benefit from health promotion services," adding, "We will continue to develop a variety of customized programs to further improve the health of our community residents."

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