Gov't announces measures to stabilize emergency room care

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Gov't announces measures to stabilize emergency room care

Published: 05 Sep. 2024, 18:56

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

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, visits a regional emergency medical center at Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital in Gyeonggi on Wednesday night. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The government on Thursday announced special measures to stabilize emergency patient care nationwide, including a monitoring program where municipalities and Health Ministry officers oversee and control patient volume in emergency departments.

The measures came a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol and his senior staff visited a regional emergency medical center at Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday night.

Of 409 emergency medical facilities nationwide, 25 that are expected to experience service disruptions will have dedicated managers from the Ministry of Health and Welfare who will monitor patient care status, the ministry's press release on Thursday said.

The remaining 384 will be managed by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments. Each municipality’s chief will be responsible for the treatment capacity of emergency rooms in their jurisdictions, according to a report from Yonhap News Agency on Thursday.

On Thursday, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the government will help patients access timely emergency medical care through the monitoring program, which will track occupancy at emergency rooms across the country, during a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting.

Park said the government will “thoroughly prepare a seamless execution of emergency medical policies by closely coordinating with local authorities and medical facilities.”

A banner posted on a wall at a Gyeonggi-based general hospital informs visitors and patients of delays in emergency medical services on Thursday. [YONHAP]

While noting recent service suspensions at several short-staffed emergency rooms across the country, Park said the ministry believes that joint effort between the government, localities and medical facilities would help overcome ongoing service interruptions.

Park said the government has been providing “tailored state support to emergency medical facilities experiencing operational difficulties” by supplying state-hired medical staff.

On Wednesday, the government dispatched 15 military doctors to five understaffed general and public hospitals in Gangwon, the Chungcheong provinces, Gyeonggi and Seoul. By next Monday, an additional 235 military physicians will be deployed to civilian hospitals.

“Difficulties observed in today’s emergency medicine services have long existed,” Park said during the meeting on Thursday, noting “medical reform would fix such problems fundamentally.”

Park's remarks seemingly address an imbalance in doctors’ preferences, with physicians avoiding essential and high-risk medical departments in favor of high-paying fields such as cosmetic surgery and dermatology.

During the presidential visit, Yoon promised the government’s "utmost and prioritized support in preventing physician burnout by utilizing viable resources" ahead of the five-day Chuseok holiday later this month. Typically, demand for emergency care soars during the holiday period.

“What comes before the lives of the people?” Yoon asked, according to a statement by presidential spokesperson Jeong Hey-jeon. His remarks seemingly stressed the importance of protecting public health and the responsibilities of the government and health sector.

Yoon also expressed his regret over the current “unfair” compensation scheme for doctors, noting that physicians practicing essential and high-risk medicine have been underpaid and burdened with more intense workloads than community doctors running their clinics or performing cosmetic surgery.

Yoon also promised “full-scale and groundbreaking support” to encourage doctors to prioritize critical medicine fields such as obstetrics and pediatrics and care for critically ill patients over nonessential specialties.

The president also noted that doctors could best practice medicine when the legal risks related to medical accidents are alleviated and when they receive fair rewards. Fear of malpractice suits has been blamed for discouraging doctors from taking on challenging treatment.

"The government announced a budget plan to spend a national reserve of 10 trillion won ($7.4 billion) and another 10 trillion won from the national health insurance service in the upcoming five years to execute medical reform policies," Yoon said.

He also said the government would incorporate the perspectives of the medical community and relevant stakeholders to develop and devise sound health policies.

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