Sokcho Medical Center in Gangwon Province offered an unprecedented salary package of 400 million KRW per year when it publicly recruited emergency medicine specialists last February. However, there were no applicants. Currently, the emergency room at Sokcho Medical Center is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays this month and operates only on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The hospital has removed the restriction on emergency medicine specialization and has conducted five recent recruitment attempts but has been unable to find the necessary personnel. Medical staff tend to avoid working in remote areas due to poor working conditions. Meanwhile, residents are left in a 'medical blind spot.'
According to the “2022 Nationwide Status of Essential Medical Care Vulnerable Areas by City and Province” released by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) on the 11th, surgery, known as the “flower of essential medical care,” had only 4.47 specialists per 100,000 people nationwide on average. Seoul (9.08 specialists) was the only region exceeding the average, while Sejong (2.09 specialists) had less than half the average. Eleven cities and provinces, including Gyeongbuk (2.31 specialists) and Chungnam (2.92 specialists), were below the average. According to the Medical Service Act, general hospitals with more than 300 beds must have at least nine clinical departments, including internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology, each staffed with dedicated specialists. For example, Jeonnam Suncheon Medical Center, which has 310 beds, has a surgery department but no specialists. Incheon Red Cross Hospital and Tongyeong Red Cross Hospital do not have surgery departments at all.
In terms of the number of obstetrics and gynecology specialists (average 4.13), Seoul (8.36) had more than twice the average, while Sejong (2.08), Ulsan (2.22), and Chungnam (2.51) were significantly below. In rural areas, many medical institutions do not operate obstetrics and gynecology departments due to more severe aging and low birthrate issues. Representative examples include Jeonnam Suncheon Medical Center, Incheon Red Cross Hospital, Gyeonggi-do Medical Center Icheon Hospital, Tongyeong Red Cross Hospital, and Gangwon Gangneung Medical Center. Even Daegu Medical Center, Sangju Red Cross Hospital, and Gyeonggi-do Medical Center Anseong Hospital, which have obstetrics and gynecology departments, lack specialists.
The situation in pediatrics, which is said to have declared a “department closure,” is also poor. The number of pediatric specialists is 1.80, ranking low among essential medical departments. Seoul has 4.30 specialists, while Gyeongbuk has less than one specialist (0.91). The average number of emergency medicine specialists is 3.74, with 12 cities and provinces, including Busan (2.77), Gyeongnam (2.96), and Jeonnam (3.03), falling below the average. After the death of a teenager in Daegu last February due to “emergency room rotation,” the ruling and opposition parties decided to expand the number of severe emergency medical centers nationwide from 40 to 60 to ensure treatment within one hour anywhere in the country. Internal medicine, with an average of 13.28 specialists nationwide, is relatively better off. However, the gap between the lowest, Gyeongbuk (7.34 specialists), and the highest, Seoul (26.06 specialists), is up to fourfold.
Analyzing the number of specialists and department establishment rates in general hospitals by city and province, CCEJ identified Jeonnam, Ulsan, and Sejong as vulnerable areas for essential medical care. All five clinical departments in these regions were below the national average. Notably, Daejeon, Gwangju, Ulsan, and Sejong lack even local medical centers, which serve as the last bastion of regional public healthcare.
CCEJ argued that to bridge the gap in medical resources between regions, the government should establish public medical schools and expand medical school quotas. The government is seeking solutions in this direction, but the medical community strongly opposes this, insisting that support for regional medical institutions should come first. Since the importance of essential medical care has increased after COVID-19, a total of 13 bills related to the establishment of public medical schools have been proposed in the 21st National Assembly, regardless of party lines. These bills mainly include government support for the budget to establish public medical schools and require doctors to serve in regional medical institutions for 10 years after obtaining their medical licenses.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
