Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Hanyang University Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (HUHRD) pledged to offer quaternary care for intractable diseases.

Bae Sang-cheol, director of HUHRD, held a news conference at the Hanyang Institute of Technology on Tuesday to look back on the past 20 years and announce future plans.

“An image of a hospital used to be important in hospital operation in the past. Now, we’re in an era where reputation plays a key role. Our hospital will focus on research-based treatment of intractable diseases to become more reliable,” Bae said.

Bae emphasized that HUHRD was providing quaternary care, concentrating on intractable rheumatic diseases.

HUHRD has 10 specialized clinics, leading the nation’s rheumatic disease treatment. About 30 percent of the nation’s rheumatic disease specialists graduated from Hanyang University’s College of Medicine. Hanyang-graduated rheumatic disease professors work at 17 out of 41 medical schools.

Bae said the hospital would place priority on preventing and treating uncontrollable diseases in the future, too.

Its prevention center will aim to prevent the disease from developing and keeping the condition from progressing to a severe state after the development of the disease. To do so, the hospital will use extensive cohort data.

Bae also expressed his will to help improve the nation’s healthcare delivery system.

“Before the government began to talk about the healthcare delivery system, we have been forming a network with clinics to facilitate treatment requests and medical treatments in return,” Bae said. “The concept of the registry is now centered on university hospitals. But if we encourage clinics to participate in this and study together, the quality of healthcare will be enhanced.”

HUHRD has been holding training courses for clinic-owning orthopedic surgeons, internal medicine specialists, and rehabilitation medicine practitioners for 14 years. The hospital also operates “Post-ACR,” an education program by American College of Rheumatology for obtaining latest knowledge. Every year, about 250 people take training courses at HUHRD.

Copyright © KBR Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution prohibited