Chungnam Accelerates Construction of 'Naepo General Hospital'

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is accelerating the construction of the Naepo New Town General Hospital.

On the 6th, the province held the first official meeting of the ‘Naepo General Hospital Construction Council’ with Myongji Medical Foundation and announced that it has started related procedures such as a preliminary feasibility study for financial support.

The meeting was held about a month after the province, the foundation, and Hongseong and Yesan counties agreed to advance the opening of Naepo General Hospital by three years from the original schedule.

The attendees shared the progress since signing the memorandum of understanding and reviewed administrative procedures related to the construction of Naepo General Hospital.

The province completed a routine audit (pre-consulting) on the Naepo medical site development construction on the 17th of last month and is currently preparing for the project bidding.

In addition, regarding the preliminary feasibility review for financial support for the general hospital construction, the province received consulting from a specialized institution and announced a research service bid.

Over the next seven months, the province plans to conduct the research service to analyze the scope and feasibility of financial support for the hospital installation costs, medical demand in Naepo New Town, the scale and appropriateness of the project plan, and more.

The province will also speed up preparations for administrative procedures such as investment review and the drafting of an implementation agreement with legal effect. Based on this, the province aims to establish a basic plan for opening Naepo General Hospital in March 2026 and to sign the implementation agreement within this year.

Myongji Medical Foundation is currently preparing the scale of the Naepo General Hospital and project promotion plans reflecting the results of medical demand surveys, while Hongseong and Yesan counties and Chungnam Development Corporation are preparing to expedite various permits and site development.

Meanwhile, Naepo General Hospital is planned to be built on a 34,214㎡ site (total floor area 56,198㎡) with 525 beds, including 350 acute care beds and 175 rehabilitation and nursing beds.

The hospital will have a total of 22 medical departments and will operate specialized medical centers such as severe emergency care and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular centers. The province expects that the opening of Naepo General Hospital will eliminate medical blind spots in the western region of Chungnam.