President Yoon Seok-yeol stated on the 13th regarding the government’s policy of expanding medical school enrollment by “2,000 students over 5 years,” “It is a minimum increase in personnel as part of a long-term plan, and it is being promoted based on scientific estimates, so I hope that medical professionals do not misunderstand.” He added, “I hope that you believe in the government’s sincerity in improving the treatment of medical professionals.”
President Yoon visited the Seoul Medical Center Regional Emergency Medical Center in Jungnang-gu, Seoul and the National Medical Center Central Emergency Medical Center in Jung-gu in succession on the morning of the day before the Chuseok holiday. It has been nine days since President Yoon visited an emergency medical site at Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital on the 4th.
The Seoul Medical Center Regional Emergency Medical Center is responsible for severe and emergency patients in the northeastern part of Seoul. It has 27 beds and receives an average of 60 patients per day, with approximately 16,000 patients visiting as of September of this year. It is the only hospital in the northeastern part of Seoul that has a pediatric patient area.
President Yoon encouraged the hard work of medical staff in the field while also emphasizing the purpose and intent of the government’s medical reform.
President Yoon said, “The core of medical reform is listening to the voices of each field of the medical community and ensuring that medical professionals who work harder and provide more difficult treatment are compensated more.”
Regarding the need to expand the number of medical school students, he said, “Education and medical care are essential requirements for balanced regional development, but considering the changes in population structure and the increase in medical demand due to economic growth and aging, it will take a considerable amount of time to train the medical personnel needed in the future.”
He said, “I hope that medical professionals do not misunderstand this, as it is a minimum increase in personnel as part of a long-term plan and is being promoted based on scientific estimates.”
President Yoon said, “The government will not only look after the lives and health of the people, but also improve the system that the medical community has been unable to resolve on its own so that it can be used fairly and efficiently, so please feel free to express your opinions,” and asked the medical staff to directly contact Policy Director Sung Tae-yoon and Senior Secretary for Social Affairs Jang Sang-yoon to give their opinions.
President Yoon said, “Public health is an essential function of a country, along with security and public safety,” and promised, “We will invest 10 trillion won over the next five years, but we will invest more if necessary, because nothing is more important than the health of the people.”
President Yoon moved to the Central Emergency Medical Center and stopped by the ‘Yoon Han-deok Hall’ to honor the late Director of the Central Emergency Medical Center, Yoon Han-deok.
In the following meeting, President Yoon said, “I heard that Director Yoon worked over 129 hours that week when he died in 2019. Even now, there are many doctors like Director Yoon at hospitals across the country who are dedicated day and night to caring for patients,” and “We started healthcare reform out of the desperation that our healthcare system cannot continue with a structure where doctors in charge of essential medical care are struggling due to overwork.”
He continued, “The government used to rely solely on health insurance, but now it will boldly invest its finances,” and “We will make sure that the treatment of specialists does not deteriorate. The system can only function efficiently when a fair compensation system is established for the dedication of the medical community.”
President Yoon told officials at Seoul Medical Center, “Thanks to your cooperation, we are fortunate that many more hospitals and clinics are open this Chuseok than in previous years,” and asked them to “provide good treatment according to the severity of the condition.”
He also said that he was grateful for the warm hospitalization when he was a child, and asked, “You must be tired from not being able to sleep and having frequent rounds, but I would appreciate it if you could always be warm to patients.” He added, “We have significantly increased health insurance premiums during the holiday period, and increased the consultation fees for specialists at regional emergency medical centers by 3.5 times the usual level.”
He said to the police officers stationed at the Seoul Medical Center Regional Emergency Medical Center who are preventing violence and disturbances, “Thank you for your efforts in protecting medical staff,” and ordered, “Hospital disturbances must be severely punished.”
Regarding the controversy surrounding the ’emergency room doctor blacklist’, he said, “It is truly regrettable that dedicated doctors are being mocked and threatened,” but added, “The public does not criticize medical professionals, but rather thinks that it is the fault of a small number of people.”
While doing so, he emphasized that many medical professionals are distant from those involved in the ‘blacklist’, saying, “When people go to the hospital because they are sick, they see the dedication of doctors, nurses, and assistants, and the public is grateful for their efforts.”
President Yoon shook hands with each of the medical staff and employees working 24 hours a day at the Seoul-Incheon Metropolitan Emergency Medical Situation Room and the Central Emergency Medical Situation Room and said, “Thank you for your hard work.”
When a red mark appeared on the emergency medical status board for the Busan area, he gave an on-the-spot order to Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong, saying, “Call the mayor of Busan and find out if there are any difficulties.”
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who accompanied the event that day, explained, “In close cooperation with the Seoul Medical Association, we had originally planned to open 500 hospitals and pharmacies per day during the holiday period, but a total of 2,500 hospitals and pharmacies, including 1,200 hospitals and 1,300 pharmacies, will be open per day.”
Lee Hyun-seok, the director of Seoul Medical Center, said, “The emergency room problem is not something that started yesterday or today. It is not smoothly transitioning to background care,” and suggested, “Since the workload of essential medical departments is high, it would be good to introduce incentives such as cost compensation to keep those who are leaving and attract new ones.”
Cha Myeong-il, head of the Central Emergency Medical Center, said, “These days, when receiving a patient, I think about, ‘How much compensation will I have to pay if something goes wrong with the patient?’” and added, “The government needs to support doctors so that they do not suffer from such vague fears when choosing essential medical departments.”
President Yoon then instructed his staff to “develop a liability insurance system for judicial risks in the Financial Services Commission and speed up the enactment and revision of laws.” He concluded the meeting by saying, “I came here to personally meet and shake hands with those who are working hard during the holidays and express my gratitude.”
The Office of the President said it minimized the number of personnel in consideration of the inconvenience of patients and medical staff. Key aides, including Policy Director Sung Tae-yoon, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs Jang Sang-yoon, and Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong, accompanied President Yoon.
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2024-09-14 03:42:33