Incheon Expands Free Medical Services for '1 Island 1 Primary Care Hospital'... 10 Hospitals Designated on 18 Islands

Incheon City is expanding the 'One Island, One Primary Care Hospital' project to provide free medical treatment for island residents. On the 4th, the city signed a 'Public-Private Partnership Free Medical Treatment Agreement for One Island, One Primary Care Hospital' with four general hospitals: Hanlim Hospital, New Seongmin Hospital, Hyundai Uvis Hospital, and Incheon Christian Hospital.

Accordingly, the participating general hospitals will dispatch medical staff to the township-level areas of Ongjin County and Ganghwa County, which consist of islands in Incheon, to provide free medical treatment in various specialties such as internal medicine, cardiology, rehabilitation, and orthopedics 2 to 6 times a year.

Medical services in the island areas will be provided by a team of about 10 people, including two specialists, five nurses, and three administrative staff. After specialist examinations, residents requiring additional treatment or surgery will be recommended to cooperative medical institutions by Ongjin County to receive free surgeries.

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok is taking a commemorative photo on the 4th after signing the 'One Island One Primary Care Hospital Public-Private Partnership Free Medical Service Agreement' with the heads of four general hospitals in the Incheon area. (From left: Park Sang-wook, Administrative Director of Hyundai Uvis Hospital; Lee Hye-min, Director of Incheon Christian Hospital; Moon Kyung-bok, Ongjin County Governor; Yoo Jeong-bok, Mayor of Incheon; Jung Hye-kyung, Director of Hanlim Hospital; Park Sung-jun, Director of New Seongmin Hospital)
Photo by Incheon City

With this agreement, the number of Incheon islands receiving free medical treatment has expanded from 9 to 18. The number of participating hospitals has also increased to a total of 10, including the existing Gil Hospital, Inha University Hospital, Incheon Sejong Hospital, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, International St. Mary's Hospital, and Naeun Hospital.

The public-private partnership free medical treatment project, which started in 2015 but was suspended after 2019, aims to address one of the biggest problems in island areas?medical issues?by utilizing private medical personnel and resources to share and overcome the limitations of public healthcare.

At the agreement ceremony, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, "We will strive to establish the One Island, One Primary Care Hospital project as a continuous medical service rather than a one-time event, contributing to the improvement of living conditions on the islands."

Meanwhile, Incheon City is constructing a new hospital ship scheduled to operate in March next year. The new hospital ship will be more than twice the size of the existing hospital ship (108 tons), at 270 tons, and will visit six townships and 20 island areas to provide medical care to residents. With the deployment of the new hospital ship, it is expected that medical services for island residents will be further improved alongside the One Island, One Primary Care Hospital project.