‘Government is deceiving people despite the collapse of emergency care’

Korea’s emergency care system is crumbling due to medical turmoil caused by the government’s increasing medical school enrollment quota.

It’s been more than half a year since trainee doctors left the hospital, and the remaining medical workers are beginning to leave. Emergency rooms at university hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan region, let alone those in rural areas, limit their operations.

According to the Korean Medical Association (KMA) on Thursday, the emergency room of Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital in Seoul has restricted weekend and nighttime treatments.

The KMA said pediatric, plastic surgery, and ophthalmology patients could not receive care even though they visit the emergency room on weekends, and the ENT and surgery departments are closed on weekends and nights. Myocardial infarction interventions are also restricted on nights, weekends, and holidays.

Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital’s Regional Emergency Medical Center is closed to most emergency surgeries, including pediatric patients. Emergency deliveries in obstetrics and gynecology are also limited.

In a regular briefing earlier in the day, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it would provide support to prevent the departure of emergency medical personnel from the field, encourage people to refrain from visiting emergency rooms for mild cases, and “operate more on-call hospitals and clinics than usual during the Chuseok (the Korean Thanksgiving) holiday.”

“We increased the number of specialists at regional and local emergency medical centers from 1,418 last year to 1,502 this year. However, it is difficult to fill the gap because about 500 specialists have left,” Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo said. “It is the result of accumulated structural problems. These are being addressed in the current healthcare reform bill.”

However, the KMA criticized the health authorities, saying, “The government is still fooling the public that it is a temporary problem at some hospitals. In reality, even the emergency medical centers in metropolises cannot provide adequate care.”

Choi Anna, KMA’s general director and spokesperson, said so at a press briefing, explaining the situation at the emergency rooms of Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital and Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital.

“Vice Minister Park has only given lip service to the emergency medical collapse he caused without any reflection or apology,” Choi said. “Park should keep his promise to fly in patients even if it means chartering a plane to treat them.”

Choi was referring to Park’s remark earlier in the year. On March 17, Vice Minister Park appeared on Channel A and said, “If not a single Korean doctor remains on the scene, I will charter a plane to fly patients (to a foreign country) for treatment.”

“It is time for a decision to resolve the medical chaos triggered by the government's medical disruption, the absence of trainee doctors, and problems in the education of medical students,” Choi said. “The government must fix the broken healthcare system and get medical education back on track instead of pouring out ineffective reforms in areas that work well.”

Choi called for suspending the special committee on medical reform and “starting an effective dialogue between the medical community and the government following their agreement on Sept. 4 to resolve the situation.”