"Early Execution of Supplementary Budget to Prevent Medical Gaps in Areas with Fewer Public Health Doctors"

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that Minister Jung Eunkyung visited the Yeongju City Health Center and the Anjeong-myeon Health Branch in North Gyeongsang Province on April 24 to check the response to the decrease in public health doctors and to listen to the voices of local medical staff.

Jungeun Kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, visited Yeongwol Medical Center in Gangwon Province on the 22nd to review the progress of the Community Integrated Care Project and public healthcare issues. She held a meeting with local government officials, regional experts, and representatives of service providers. Ministry of Health and Welfare

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This on-site visit was organized to review the execution plan for the 2026 supplementary budget, which was allocated to address the recent and rapid shortage of public health doctors, and to gather on-site opinions to ensure medical access for residents in medically underserved areas.

The government has newly established a support project to immediately deploy 150 public health nurses to regions where the assignment of public health doctors is difficult. In addition, 20 more senior doctors, who are experienced specialists, will be hired, and 132 essential doctors will be additionally supported based on long-term contracts with local medical institutions.

For health branches without doctors, the government plans to introduce customized models suited to local circumstances, such as converting them into health clinics and maintaining mobile medical visits. It will also enhance non-face-to-face medical models and gradually expand telemedicine collaboration projects utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology to supplement medical functions.

On this day, Minister Jung visited the Yeongju City Health Center to listen to opinions on local medical conditions, response plans to the decrease in public health doctors, difficulties and suggestions from the field, and requested cooperation from on-site staff to enable early execution of the supplementary budget.

She then discussed measures to establish a stable regional healthcare system with the heads of health centers in the nearby counties of Uljin, Seongju, and Cheongdo, and visited the Anjeong-myeon Health Branch, where public health nurses are scheduled to be deployed, to check the on-site medical environment.

The health center heads who attended the meeting suggested that, in order to improve the quality and accessibility of primary healthcare in underserved areas, it is necessary to both expand medical personnel such as doctors and public health nurses and to reorganize the regional healthcare system by establishing central hub institutions for each region to ensure efficient utilization of medical resources.

Minister Jung stated, "I would like to express my gratitude to all the local medical professionals who are working hard to fill the medical gap despite the difficult circumstances caused by the sharp decrease in public health doctors." She added, "We will swiftly execute the supplementary budget so that the measures in response to the decrease in public health doctors can function effectively in the field, and we will continue to review and enhance these measures."

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