There are 9 emergency medical centers in Gyeonggi Province.
,
Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province. / News 1,
, ‘Controversy has arisen in the medical community over Governor Kim Dong-yeon’s pledge to urgently provide 1 billion won for emergency room personnel expenses at the Ajou University Hospital in Suwon on September 30th. The regional emergency medical centers that serve as the emergency medical hubs of Gyeonggi Province include a total of 9 hospitals, including Ajou University Hospital. However, when the governor singled out Ajou University Hospital to provide 1 billion won, criticism arose in the medical community, citing it as a measure that undermines the morale of other hospital emergency rooms and supporting medical departments that are struggling despite facing similar circumstances.’,
,
, ‘Recently, Ajou University Hospital considered restricting weekly consultations to once a week as 3 out of 14 emergency room specialists resigned and 4 more expressed their intention to resign. In response, Governor Kim visited the hospital on September 30th and announced plans to provide 1 billion won, stating, “Ajou University Hospital is responsible for 25% of the severe emergency patients in Gyeonggi Province, and they have been facing many difficulties due to recent voluntary resignations within the medical staff.” Following the announcement of the 1 billion won emergency support plan, Ajou University Hospital stated that they would maintain ‘7-day consultations’ without reducing medical services. Emergency support is based on regulations related to Gyeonggi Province’s emergency medical support. While Gyeonggi Province evenly distributed a total of 19 billion won to regional emergency medical centers within the province in June, this time they are only supporting Ajou University Hospital.’,
,
, ‘A professor who previously served as the head of a major university hospital in Seoul mentioned, “Even if Ajou University Hospital handles many emergency patients, Gyeonggi Province’s actions are not fair,” adding, “If local governments support specific hospitals in this manner, neighboring hospitals’ medical staff may feel deprived, and the hospitals that must console and retain them will face a much greater burden.” Another professor of emergency medicine at a university hospital in the metropolitan area anticipates that specific hospital support could lead to internal discord beyond hospital competition in a situation where the size of emergency medicine specialists is fixed and competition for specialists has escalated among some regional hospitals. Referring to Governor Kim’s previous role as the president of Ajou University from 2015 to 2017, the head of a university hospital in the metropolitan area cautioned, “When local governments provide support, they must consider not only other hospital emergency rooms but also the downstream medical departments crucial for maintaining emergency rooms.”‘,
,