Hwaseong City Accelerates Advancement of 'Hwaseong-type Integrated Care'... Full-Scale Design of Customized Models for Four Districts

Hwaseong Special City in Gyeonggi Province is accelerating the establishment of a regionally customized integrated care system by holding an interim report meeting for the 'Hwaseong-type Integrated Care Support Implementation Plan' research project.

Yoon Sungjin, Acting Mayor of Hwaseong Special City, is speaking about the direction of establishing the Hwaseong-type integrated care system. Provided by Hwaseong City

원본보기 아이콘

On the 17th, the city held the interim report meeting for the 'Hwaseong City Integrated Care Support Implementation Plan Research' at the main conference room of City Hall, presided over by Yoon Sungjin, Acting Mayor of Hwaseong Special City. More than 30 experts, including directors and heads of departments related to integrated care, the head of the public health center, as well as city council members, attended the meeting to review the interim research results and discuss future directions.

This research was initiated in accordance with the 'Act on Integrated Support for Local Care such as Medical and Nursing Care' (abbreviated as Integrated Care Support Act), which came into effect on March 27. Under this law, local governments are required to independently establish an integrated care delivery system and execution plan.

The research was commissioned by the Hwaseong City Welfare Foundation and is being conducted by Professor Jeon Yongho's research team from the University-Industry Cooperation Foundation at Incheon National University. The project runs for five months, from January to June this year.

Hwaseong Special City has accumulated on-the-ground experience through various projects, such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Community Integrated Care Leading Project, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Pilot Project on Senior Care Delivery System Reform, and the Hwaseong-type Home-Based Integrated Senior Care Pilot Project. The aim of this research is to further advance the Hwaseong-type care system in line with the law, building on these achievements.

During the meeting, the research team presented interim findings on the current status and analysis of care demand and supply in Hwaseong’s four general districts (Manse-gu, Hyohang-gu, Byeongjeom-gu, Dongtan-gu), as well as the results of a care demand survey by life cycle. In addition, they outlined the design direction for the Hwaseong-type integrated care delivery system, conceptual models for each district and life stage, strategies for building public-private-medical-community collaborative governance, and a phased implementation roadmap.

Hwaseong Special City is the city with the highest population growth rate in the country and is a mixed urban-rural area where agriculture and high-tech industries coexist, resulting in disparities in care resources and accessibility between regions. Accordingly, this research aims to design tailored care models that reflect the population structure and care infrastructure gaps in the four general districts, and to establish an integrated care system that extends beyond seniors and persons with disabilities to include children, adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged residents throughout the entire life cycle.

Yoon Sungjin, Acting Mayor of Hwaseong Special City, stated, "Now that the Integrated Care Support Act is fully in effect, it is more important than ever to develop an effective delivery system and organizational design suited to the local context. Please ensure that the voices from the field are fully reflected to produce a high-quality outcome, so that care models tailored to the characteristics of each district and an integrated care system covering all life stages can be established."

Hwaseong Special City plans to incorporate the feedback gathered at the interim report meeting and finalize the research report in June. Based on this, the city will begin formulating the Hwaseong-type Integrated Care Support Implementation Plan for 2027.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.