Gangdong-gu, Following Bolivia, Visits Mongolia for Benchmarking

23 Mongolian Ministry of Health Officials and Nurses Visit Gangdong-gu Health Center for Capacity Building and Medical Law Revision
Benchmarking Gangdong-gu Health Center Operations and Specialized Projects such as Health Management Center and Health 100-Year Counseling Center

Kangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Soo-hee) announced on the 5th that it conducted benchmarking of the healthy city Kangdong with a visiting delegation from Mongolia on two occasions, the 15th and 30th of last month.

Following visits from El Salvador in October last year, Cambodia in May this year, and Bolivia in August, this time the Ministry of Health and the National Hospital of Mongolia visited to benchmark the excellent projects and public healthcare system of Kangdong-gu Public Health Center.

This visit was promoted as part of nurse commissioned training organized by the Health Development Institute of the Mongolian Ministry of Health. Kangdong-gu Public Health Center held a session explaining the overall operation of the health center, including the Health Management Center and Health 100-Year Counseling Center, as well as ongoing projects such as support for infertility treatment costs and Seoul Baby Health First Steps, to the Mongolian delegation. Afterwards, they toured various facilities such as the Children's Health Park, Physical Rehabilitation Therapy Room, and Rooftop Garden, and experienced on-site activities including a virtual drinking simulation.

In particular, specialized projects aimed at improving residents' health, such as the 'Health Management Center,' which allows one-stop management of chronic diseases through visits to dedicated doctors for consultations on treatment, nutrition, exercise, and stress at the health center, and the 'Health 100-Year Counseling Center,' where professional nurses are stationed at community service centers to prevent and manage chronic diseases, received great attention.

Additionally, the Mongolian delegation showed deep interest in Kangdong-gu’s health projects by asking various questions about ▲the current staffing status of the health center ▲the roles of Korean public health institutions (health centers, dementia relief centers, etc.) ▲key projects of the health center ▲differences and cooperation forms between health centers and private hospitals ▲Seoul’s support projects for newborns and pregnant women ▲differences in national vaccination programs between Korea and Mongolia (such as Japanese encephalitis) and prevalent diseases in Korea.

After the health center tour, a Mongolian official stated, “We are currently discussing amendments to the Medical Service Act in Mongolia, and this visit to Kangdong-gu has provided many ideas for the amendment.” They added, “The various projects necessary for residents, such as traditional Korean medicine treatment, physical therapy rooms, and pregnancy preparation support projects at Kangdong-gu Public Health Center, were very impressive.”

The district expects that the successive benchmarking visits from overseas countries will help widely promote Kangdong-gu’s projects and enhance its status as a healthy city, and plans to further activate exchanges with other overseas cities in the future.

Choi Jung-soo, Director of the Public Health Center, said, “I hope this visit will widely promote the excellent projects carried out in Kangdong-gu and greatly contribute to improving Mongolia’s medical infrastructure and medical development.”