On the 2nd, medical school professors issued a statement saying, “Contrary to government announcements, many emergency rooms are already unable to provide normal treatment.” The government’s position on this emergency room treatment restriction situation is that “there are operational difficulties, but emergency treatment can be maintained.”
The National Medical School Professors’ Emergency Response Committee issued a statement this morning, emphasizing that “starting with Chuseok, the number of diseases that cannot be treated with emergency treatment will increase and the number of universities closing their emergency rooms will increase,” and that emergency rooms are not able to provide treatment as they should.
The emergency committee took aim at President Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, “He hasn’t been to a medical site once in the past five months, yet he tells reporters to ‘go to a medical site,’ says, ‘the emergency medical system is operating well,’ and says that the emergency room crisis during the Chuseok holiday is ‘the argument of those who oppose increasing the number of medical schools. ’”
He emphasized that “South Korea’s medical field is in a serious crisis,” and that “emergency rooms are not functioning properly due to a lack of specialists.” He continued, “Contrary to what the government has announced, many emergency rooms are already unable to provide normal treatment,” and “As of the 1st, out of 57 university hospital emergency rooms nationwide, 14 were unable to perform deliveries, 16 were unable to perform thoracic aortic surgeries, 24 were unable to perform intestinal obstruction procedures in infants and toddlers, and 46 were unable to perform endoscopy in infants and toddlers.”
The emergency committee told the political circles, “We must take the medical crisis seriously and urge the president to make a decision.” It also said to the Supreme Court, “We must suspend the effect of the 2,000-seat increase in medical school admissions to prevent the collapse of the Korean medical system and the health of the people through a ruling.” It continued, “The collapse of the medical system that has already begun is seriously threatening the people’s right to health and right to life,” and emphasized, “We must act for the people.”
On the other hand, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong appeared on SBS radio that morning and said, “There are operational difficulties, but I think it is possible to maintain emergency treatment.”
Minister Cho responded to a related question on the radio by saying, “In the case of regional emergency medical centers that rely heavily on interns and residents, the number of hospital beds is decreasing and specialists are leaving, but the government is doing its best to maintain the emergency medical system,” adding, “We will provide support for the most important personnel and increase fees for background care to ensure a smooth response.”
He said, “It’s not just an emergency room problem, but a problem with the medical care behind the scenes,” and “This problem existed even before the medical community’s collective action, so I think it can only be solved through medical reform.” He added, “We will support approximately 4,000 neighborhood hospitals and clinics to open during the Chuseok holidays,” and asked, “Please give up emergency rooms to patients with more severe symptoms and visit neighborhood hospitals and clinics first.”
The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to hold emergency medical response briefings every day starting today to convey emergency room-related issues.
Lee Ye-ji, Donga.com reporter [email protected]
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2024-09-02 05:12:41