Wonju Severance Christian Hospital said it had mobilized 124 medical workers for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, which will kick off on Feb. 9.

Wonju Severance is one of the two hospitals designated for the upcoming Winter Games, and the hospital started to provide medical care beginning Jan. 25. GangNeung Asan Hospital is the other named medical institution.

Staff members of Wonju Severance Christian Hospital vow to make efforts for the successful hosting of 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, during a starting ceremony of the medical support corps held at the hospital on Jan. 25.

Wonju’s medical team – comprised of doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and radiologists – has been preparing to provide treatment for the participants and organizers of the global athletic event. The hospital said it would provide comprehensive treatment at the polyclinic, the Olympic Village, and 13 medical facilities within the complex.

According to the chief medical officer for the Olympic Games Lee Young-hee, a total of 2,355 medical professionals, including more than 300 doctors, will be officially working or volunteering for the event. The medical workers will be stationed at medical stations, the polyclinic or Olympic designated hospitals.

“Medical professionals and officials have worked tirelessly for the past two years training and studying for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics,” Lee said at Medical Korea 2017. "The committee is prepared for the Olympics, and we medical workers, who have provided our time and effort, can say we are ready.”

The hospital also said that it formed an Olympic support team to ensure the treatment and transportation of severely ill patients from the PyeongChang Olympic complex to Wonju Severance. The institution is about an hour and a half from the main stadiums by car, a hospital spokesperson said.

“The doctors will decide whether to use the helicopters in place according to the status of the patient,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) said Tuesday it opened a comprehensive treatment facility called Gangneung Polyclinic in the Olympic Village last Friday.

“Our polyclinic runs as a small general hospital that serves mainly outpatients. We provide emergency care for athletes or spectators and have various medical departments, including obstetrics, gynecology, rehabilitation, and psychiatry,” a SNUH spokesperson said.

Patients who need additional or more intense care will be transported to one of the Olympic-designated hospitals after treatment at the polyclinic, he added.

More than 100 supporting medical staff from SNUH, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, and Boramae Medical Center will provide medical services for Olympic participants and the organizing committee officials at the clinic, the hospital said.

The clinic will operate until Feb. 26 and has all the facilities to provide diagnosis, treatment, and prescription as well as respond to emergency situations, the hospital said. Before and after the games, the clinic will serve as an emergency room in preparation of medical accidents, it said.

“All medical staffs are working for the successful hosting of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which are in the international spotlight,” SNUH Professor Baek Goo-hyun said.

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