'Turnaround to Surplus' Gangnam-gu Happiness Nursing Hospital Wins Excellence Award at National Best Policy Competition

Effectiveness of the Performance-Based Operation Model

Gangnam-gu, Seoul announced on May 18 that it received the Excellence Award at the '2026 Best Administration and Policy Case Selection Competition' held on May 14, in recognition of improvements made to the operation of Gangnam-gu Public Happiness Nursing Hospital. The hospital was transformed from a chronic deficit-ridden public nursing hospital to a performance-based operation model, achieving a surplus within just one year.

Exterior of Gangnam-gu Happiness Nursing Hospital. Provided by Gangnam-gu.

Happiness Nursing Hospital is the only public nursing hospital in Seoul. Gangnam-gu determined that in order to maintain stable public healthcare services, both accountability and efficiency of the operating organization needed to be enhanced, and thus pursued improvements to the consignment operation system.

In January of last year, when selecting a new consignment operating organization, the district introduced a performance-based compensation system for the first time in the country. This allowed the operating organization to receive incentives based on management improvement results, thereby encouraging autonomous management. To ensure public interest and transparency, mandatory reinvestment of profits, expanded investment in facilities and equipment, external expert audits, and a management evaluation system were also implemented.

The results were reflected in the figures. The operating balance of Happiness Nursing Hospital improved from a deficit of 642 million won in 2024 to a surplus of 856 million won last year. In other words, the hospital's financial position improved by 1.498 billion won in just one year.

The award competition, organized by the Korea Public Policy Evaluation Association since 2012, is an event in which a panel of academic and field experts reviews 167 cases from public institutions nationwide and selects 60 as outstanding cases.

Gangnam-gu mayor Cho Sungmyung stated, "This award is a result of administrative innovation that addressed the structural deficit issue of public nursing hospitals," adding, "We will continue to enhance the sustainability of district-run medical institutions and provide public healthcare services that residents can truly experience."

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