Health minister says gov’t will not scrap medical reform plans

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Health minister says gov’t will not scrap medical reform plans

Published: 22 Apr. 2024, 19:09 Updated: 22 Apr. 2024, 19:11

LEE SOO-JUNG
lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr

Paramedics and caretakers transfer patients to an emergency room at a general hospital in Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

The government on Monday underscored its determination to carry out its medical reform, stating that “scrapping the current scheme or postponing medical schools' admissions hike for a year is out of perspective."

On Monday, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong stressed the “inevitability of the medical reform," adding it is “to save collapsing essential and regional medical services” during a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting.

Cho explained that a full nullification of the government-planned quota hike scheme would “delay staffing for essential medical fields,” which are currently suffering from medical personnel shortage.

The remarks rebuffing the medical sector’s demand to cancel the quota hike came three days after the government’s decision on Friday to grant partial autonomy to medical schools.

Last week, the government let 32 medical schools that received an expanded quota from the Education Ministry in March adjust their admissions quota of allocated seats by 50 to 100 percent for the upcoming academic year starting next March.

Although the government has been flexible by granting medical schools the autonomy to adjust their admissions quota within a given range, its pursuit of medical reform remains solid.

Instead of accepting the medical sector’s request, Health Minister Cho requested doctors to present “an alternative [plan] consented by medical professionals and based on scientific logic.”

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said Monday that medical professors’ tendered resignations would not come into effect, even a month after the submissions, and that the educational authorities have "no schedule to process the professorial resignations."

Hundreds of medical professors nationwide submitted their resignations late March to join forces with junior doctors protesting against the government’s plan to increase the admissions quota in medical schools.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong presides over a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on Monday at Sejong government complex in Sejong. [NEWS1]

The bargaining between the government and the medical sector has stalled for more than two months.

Cho addressed the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the nation’s largest doctors group, and Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), the representative body of junior doctors, to encourage their participation in the forthcoming presidential committee for medical reform. The committee is set to launch this week.

Both KMA and KIRA declared that they will not join the presidential committee. The KMA's emergency steering committee has maintained a condition of “one-on-one conversation” to participate in dialogue, saying that a multi-stakeholder committee would "not be appropriate to reflect the voices of doctors.”

The government is ramping up efforts to resolve the persisting standoff between doctors and the authorities, as no visible signs of rapprochement have been observed yet.

The state-run support center assisting retired doctors providing medical services in public health care facilities has been in service since last Tuesday. The government has also extended the service period of some 184 military doctors stationed at general hospitals until May 19.

On Monday, the government further relaxed restrictions to fill the medical vacuum by letting private practitioners work in general hospitals and perform medical practices without clearance from the authorities. Previously, self-employed medical professionals had to obtain local government’s permission.

The Medical Service Act stipulates that health care workers can only provide their labor and service at their employer’s medical clinics or hospitals.

Last month, the government relaxed the Act to allow self-employed medical professionals to work in large hospitals upon receiving approval by local authorities.

Health Minister Cho said on Monday the government will “ensure the impeccable delivery of emergency patient care.”

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]