Yongin Severance Hospital, affiliated with Yonsei University College of Medicine, said it would provide a new paradigm of patient care with a next-generation patient safety system and better patient convenience in the digital era.
“Yongin Severance Hospital is a digitally innovative hospital that combines 136 years of the Severance's medical experience with 5G-based cutting-edge information and communication technology, and complete healthcare infrastructure,” said Choi Dong-hoon, director of Yongin Severance Hospital, during a news conference at the Korea Press Center, downtown Seoul, on Monday.
He added that the hospital would offer new experiences for patients in Yongin and southern Gyeonggi Province, about 40 kilometers south from Seoul.
After the renovation, Yongin Severance Hospital reopened in March. The hospital has a total floor space of 111,633 square meters with 13 floors above ground and four floors underground. It accommodates 708 beds, including 59 beds in the intensive care unit, 18 operating rooms, and 29 beds in the emergency care center. The hospital runs 33 medical departments, the Cardiovascular Center, the Degenerative Brain Disease center, and the Digital Healthcare Center.
Utilizing 5G technologies, Yongin Severance Hospital said its “3 Up” goals aimed to reinforce safety, convenience, and satisfaction, and “3 Down” goals to reduce distance, risk, and waiting.
Also, the hospital built a “severity prediction system” through monitoring the signals of hospitalized patients, and a real-time location tracking system using a Bluetooth smart band, to enhance patient safety.
As the first university hospital in Yongin, the hospital will introduce the concept of “One Severance,” sharing infrastructure with the other two Severance-affiliated hospitals, Severance Hospital in western Seoul and Gangnam Severance Hospital in southern Seoul.
This will provide the optimal healthcare service for patients not only in Yongin but southern Gyeonggi Province, the hospital said.
Choi said Yongin has the second-largest population among 75 local governments and ranks fourth in the competitiveness of autonomy.
Yongin Severance Hospital is the only university hospital that can provide advanced healthcare service, and seeks to grow with the region to become a leading hospital in Asia.
Choi also vowed to make the hospital win the government’s designation of a tertiary hospital and build a second hospital in the long-term.
“If we build a hospital similar to the current one built on the outdoor parking space, we can accommodate about 1,500 beds. This will happen within a decade,” Choi said.
He went on to say that the hospital aims to establish a medical-industrial complex using the surrounding greenery, which is why the hospital seeks to become the central hospital of Asia.
Yongin Severance Hospital will celebrate the reopening, which was delayed due to Covid-19, at the Grand Hall of Yongin Severance Hospital on Thursday.