Chungnam, Naepo General Hospital Opens Early... "Expecting to Resolve Medical Blind Spots in the Western Region"

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Naepo New Town General Hospital is scheduled to open in March 2026. This is more than a year earlier than the originally planned opening date, and once Naepo General Hospital opens, the medical service conditions in the western region of Chungnam are expected to improve significantly.

On the 5th, Chungnam Province announced that it had agreed with Myongji Medical Foundation to advance the opening date of Naepo General Hospital.

The day before, the province and Myongji Foundation also signed a business agreement reflecting this. The agreement was made to formalize the verbal agreement between Chungnam Governor Kim Tae-heum and Myongji Foundation Chairman Lee Wang-jun in December last year (opening in March 2026).

Earlier, in May last year, Myongji Foundation signed a sales contract with Chungnam Development Corporation for a medical site of 34,241㎡ to build Naepo General Hospital.

However, at the time of the contract, since Myongji Foundation agreed to pay the purchase price?including the down payment, interim payment, and balance?over three years, the hospital’s opening was expected to be possible only around 2027.

The scenario was that if the land purchase was completed by 2025, the hospital construction would begin at the earliest in 2026 after about a year of administrative approval procedures. The longer the land purchase period, the later the actual hospital opening would be.

However, the province explained that after Governor Kim met with Chairman Lee of Myongji Foundation and reached a new agreement, the opening date of Naepo General Hospital could be moved up.

The core of the agreement is that Myongji Foundation will shorten the land purchase period from the original three years to within one year, while the province will strengthen administrative and financial support.

As a specific implementation plan, the province will establish a basic plan within this year, including infrastructure construction for the medical facility site and financial support measures, and form a consultative body with related organizations such as Chungnam Development Corporation to promptly proceed with administrative and financial procedures such as preliminary feasibility studies and local finance investment reviews.

Also, Hongseong County and Yesan County, which are responsible for the permits and approvals of Naepo General Hospital, will prioritize related procedures and coordinate closely with the province.

Myongji Foundation plans to establish a plan for building a regional advanced treatment general hospital in the Naepo area, submit it to the province, and complete land purchase and architectural design within this year.

Accordingly, the province expects Naepo General Hospital to begin construction early next year, be completed by the end of 2025, and open in 2026.

The early opening of Naepo General Hospital is expected to have a positive impact on resolving medical blind spots in the western region, including Boryeong City, Seosan City, Dangjin City, Seocheon County, Cheongyang County, Hongseong County, Yesan County, and Taean County.

For example, Chungnam has only two tertiary medical institutions (advanced general hospitals)?Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital and Dankook University Hospital?and both are located in Cheonan, so residents in the western region had to travel long distances to Cheonan or the metropolitan area to use advanced general hospitals.

However, the province expects that these issues will be partially resolved once Naepo General Hospital opens. The hospital will be built with a total floor area of 56,189㎡ and 520 beds (350 acute care beds and 175 rehabilitation and nursing beds), with 22 medical departments and specialized centers for severe emergency care and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Additionally, a total of 857 medical personnel, including 94 specialists and 414 nurses, will be deployed on site to provide medical services.

Governor Kim said, “The construction of Naepo General Hospital is one of the long-standing regional projects that will eliminate medical blind spots for residents in the western region and serve as a cornerstone for completing Chungnam Innovation City. The province will spare no effort to support the early construction and successful opening of Naepo General Hospital.”