Minister Jung Eungyung Visits Gangwon to Inspect Emergency Patient Transfer System

Jung Eungyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, visited Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, a regional emergency medical center, on the 22nd to host a roundtable on the emergency patient transfer system in Gangwon Province and to review local emergency medical issues.

Jung Eunkyung, Minister of Health and Welfare. Photo by Yonhap News

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The roundtable was attended by representatives from key emergency medical institutions in the province, including Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, and Kangwon National University Hospital, as well as officials from the Gangwon Fire Department, Gangwon Provincial Government, and the National Emergency Medical Center.

Of the 18 cities, counties, and districts in Gangwon Province, 15 have been designated as medically underserved areas for emergency medical services. The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that, to address Gangwon Province's poor accessibility to emergency medical care, a system has been established in which the regional situation room coordinates patient transfers to other facilities in the event of transport delays. Through a local emergency medical cooperation system comprising regional fire departments, emergency medical institutions, and local governments, unique cases are periodically reviewed and incorporated into guidelines, and emergency activity data is linked with hospital treatment data to manage quality from a comprehensive emergency care perspective.

After the roundtable, Minister Jung visited the Regional Emergency Medical Center and Regional Trauma Center within Wonju Severance Christian Hospital to encourage emergency medical staff and to inspect the preparedness system for doctor helicopter dispatches.

To address the issue of emergency room overcrowding, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is conducting a pilot project titled "Innovation in Emergency Patient Transfer System" in the Gwangju and Jeolla regions from March to May. The pilot project includes measures such as strengthening the use of the regional situation room, designating priority receiving hospitals, and activating networks among related organizations within the region, all of which are reflected in the transfer guidelines and are in operation.

Separately, the Ministry is also holding a series of roundtable meetings in other cities and provinces to review their emergency patient transfer systems. The visit to Gangwon is the third, following visits to Incheon in January and Gwangju and Jeolla in February this year.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to continue rapidly expanding the results of the pilot project and review the status of local transfer systems nationwide to ensure they are tailored to the medical conditions of each region.

Minister Jung stated, "We will continue to build close communication and cooperation with the field to ensure that emergency patient transfer systems can be established according to the unique characteristics of each region."

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