The Covid-19 pandemic hit hospitals and nursing homes so hard that over 270 institutions had to close in 2021, government data showed.

According to data by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), there were more hospital closures than openings last year, apparently due to a plunge in visits of patients who feared viral infections.

In 2019, before the pandemic, hospital openings exceeded closures.

In 2021, 86 hospitals opened, whereas 204 closed.

The situation was similar with nursing hospitals. Last year, 63 nursing homes opened while 73 closed.

Accordingly, the total number of hospitals and nursing hospitals also went down.

The number of hospitals increased from 1,489 in 2019 to 1,515 in 2020. However, as the pandemic prolonged, the number declined to 1,397 in 2021.

The number of nursing hospitals increased by five to 1,582 in 2020 but went down to 1,464 in 2021.

Hospital operators warned that more medical institutions could close their businesses due to mounting losses.

Too many hospital closures could threaten community healthcare, experts said.

Korean Convalescent Hospital Association’s PR Director Noh Dong-hoon, who operates a nursing hospital in Gyeonggi Province, said so many elderly patients have died because of the pandemic that funeral sites were in shortage.

“Although Covid-19 is abating, it is not easy for nursing hospitals to fill the beds,” he said.

Nursing hospitals are often run by flat-rate daily admissions, which make it difficult to operate a nursing home, he went on to say.

“Reimbursement prices went up, but the minimum wage rose by 5 percent, along with inflation. So, the nursing home business will face more difficulties. It’s not sustainable,” Noh said.

Woo Bong-sik, director of the Research Institute for Healthcare Policy of the Korean Medical Association, said the hospital situation was “serious.”

“Our local community healthcare services are collapsing because of more hospital closures,” he said. “As patients move from small to large hospitals, the number of nursing hospitals is shrinking.”

Woo said the pandemic cut the number of inpatients by about one-third because patients avoid visiting hospitals due to fear of Covid-19 infection.

“It is more concerning that some patients -- who can get well through hospitalization after surgery -- go home,” he said.