Interview with Kim Woo-Jeong, Director of Hebron Hospital
Settled down and opened a clinic as a result of medical service
Cost is voluntary, but you pay 1/3
Welcome to medical staff interested in volunteering
“During the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the hospital was closed and I couldn’t pay my employees’ salaries. Fortunately, I was able to resolve the issue with the 300 million won in prize money I received from the Asan Prize in 2021. I thought the hospital would have to close, but as expected, there was a way out.”
Kim Woo-jung, the director of Hebron Hospital (missionary) whom we met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the 27th of last month, is currently battling prostate cancer. However, on this day, he was still making rounds and caring for patients despite his illness.
Hebron Hospital is a local charity hospital of general hospital scale operated by Korean medical staff. After graduating from Catholic University College of Medicine, Director Kim ran a pediatric clinic in Korea and settled in Cambodia in 2006 after volunteering in the medical field. After experiencing the poor medical environment, he opened a free medical clinic in 2007 by remodeling a house with other doctors. In 2010, it was expanded to a three-story building and is currently operated as a five-story hospital. With an average of over 400 patients visiting per day, it is expected that the number of outpatients this year will exceed 100,000.
“Patients come from five to six hours away by car. Sometimes 40 people come in an 11-seater van to receive treatment,” said Director Kim. “We also created a waiting room equipped with a bathroom, laundry room, and shower room so that patients can rest comfortably.”
Although they receive donations, they have difficulty managing the hospital because they treat patients without receiving money. There was a time when the hospital was flooded for two months due to heavy rain. Currently, in order to ensure the sustainability of the hospital’s operations, they only charge medical fees to those who wish to do so. Director Kim said, “There is no specific standard for medical fees. We tell patients to pay if they have money,” and “Surprisingly, about a third of patients voluntarily pay their medical fees.”
One of the medical staff at Hebron Hospital is comprised of doctors who have come to serve from all over the world, including Korea, the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong. About 40 teams and over 100 doctors visit annually. The medical departments are diverse, including general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, plastic surgery, orthopedics, and thoracic surgery. The full-time medical staff at Hebron Hospital are in charge of general treatment, surgery, and patient management. They also have 23 hemodialysis machines and medical equipment that can perform congenital heart surgery. More than 60 heart surgeries are performed here annually.
President Kim said, “We can currently treat thyroid cancer, breast cancer, arrhythmia treatment, liver cancer embolization, etc. We would like to expand our services to rehabilitation treatment, orthopedics, etc., to care for underprivileged patients.” He added, “Doctors, nurses, and other medical staff who are even slightly interested in overseas medical volunteer work, please contact us at any time.”
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Phnom Penh = Lee Jin-han, medical journalist and doctor [email protected]
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2024-09-05 07:28:33