Ministry of Health and Welfare Announces Additional Designation of Regional Emergency Medical Centers... Targeting 5 Regions

The government is set to designate additional Regional Emergency Medical Centers in five regions where there is a shortage.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 15th that it will hold a briefing session on the 16th for medical institution officials regarding the additional designation of Regional Emergency Medical Centers.

This recruitment targets two regions that fell short of the appropriate number of Regional Emergency Medical Centers based on last year's emergency medical institution re-designation results, and three regions that the Central Emergency Medical Committee reviewed and determined require additional designations due to changes in the emergency medical environment.

Regional Emergency Medical Center stock photo. [Photo by Gangdong Kyunghee University Hospital]

The two regions that fell short are Seoul Northwest (Jongno-gu, Jung-gu, Yongsan-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, Mapo-gu, Seodaemun-gu) and Busan (Busan, Gimhae-si, Yangsan-si, Miryang-si, Geoje-si in Gyeongnam), while the three regions reviewed as needing additional designations are Gyeonggi Northwest (Goyang-si, Gimpo-si, Paju-si, Ganghwa-gun in Incheon), Gyeonggi Southwest (Suwon-si, Ansan-si, Osan-si, Hwaseong-si, Anyang-si, Gwacheon-si, Gunpo-si, Uiwang-si), and Chungnam Cheonan (Cheonan-si, Dangjin-si, Seosan-si, Asan-si, Yesan-gun, Taean-gun, Hongseong-gun, Anseong-si and Pyeongtaek-si in Gyeonggi).

Applicants must be medical institutions located in the five regions that are tertiary general hospitals or general hospitals with more than 300 beds and wish to be designated as Regional Emergency Medical Centers. Applications are accepted from institutions that meet the legal designation criteria for Regional Emergency Medical Centers at the time of application, as well as those that can fulfill the criteria by April 30 of next year.

The application period is from the 3rd to the 7th of next month. The evaluation will be conducted in two stages: a first-stage on-site assessment and a second-stage comprehensive evaluation. The evaluation panel includes experts in emergency medical care, medical facilities, and architecture. The on-site assessment will verify whether the legal designation criteria for Regional Emergency Medical Centers are met, and the comprehensive evaluation will include a document review of emergency patient treatment performance, future operation plans, and contributions to regional emergency medical services, as well as presentations and Q&A sessions by the applicant institutions regarding their operation plans.

Park Hyang, Director of Public Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "By securing additional Regional Emergency Medical Centers, we aim to increase the final treatment provision rate for severe emergency patients and contribute to reducing regional disparities in emergency medical care."