Government Requests Medical Associations to Join Healthcare Reform Task Force... University Hospitals to Close One Day a Week

Government Urges Medical Reform Committee to Include Medical Groups
Medical Community in Standoff... Demands "Complete Cancellation"
Seoul National University Hospital and Others Decide on One Day Off per Week

The government has repeatedly urged medical associations opposing healthcare reform to participate in the Special Committee on Healthcare Reform and engage in dialogue. Although the government has stepped back by allowing 50-100% autonomous recruitment for the increase in medical school quotas, university hospitals continue to engage in a strong confrontation, including closing once a week.

On the 24th, Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters), said before the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, "The Special Committee on Healthcare Reform, a social consultative body discussing healthcare reform, will hold its first meeting tomorrow," adding, "We hope that medical associations will also participate in the committee and thoughtfully consider reasonable opinions and alternatives together."

Minister Lee also expressed concern about the medical community's collective actions that have continued for two months. He said, "The anxiety and suffering of patients who need timely treatment and their families are increasing," and "Medical staff protecting the healthcare field are accumulating fatigue day by day due to excessive workloads." The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters will discuss ways to establish an organic cooperation system between 119 emergency medical services and hospitals to ensure that the transfer and admission of emergency patients are not delayed.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, will also hold a video conference in the afternoon at the Sejong Government Complex with presidents of 40 medical schools. Minister Lee plans to explain the background behind the decision to allow autonomous recruitment, including normalizing medical school curriculum operations and alleviating anxiety among examinees and parents, and request that changes to school regulations and university admission plans related to medical school quotas be submitted by the 30th of this month.

Earlier, on the 19th, the government stepped back from the '2,000' quota by allowing autonomous increases within the expanded medical school quota range of 50-100%. The government also emphasized to the medical community, "The discussion forum is open anytime if a unified alternative with reasonable and scientific grounds regarding the scale of medical school quota increases is presented."

However, the medical community is refusing to participate in the special committee, demanding a complete cancellation. The Korean Medical Association issued a statement on the 20th saying, "We understand that the committee is not properly defined in terms of composition and role," and "If it becomes a committee where opinions are not properly reflected, we believe participation is meaningless." Choi Chang-min, head of the National Medical School Professors' Emergency Committee, said on KBS radio that "(The government policy) means that the 2,000 quota increase is only temporarily reduced this year. It looks like a concession in the quota, but in reality, there is no concession at all," adding, "This is not something professors can accept, and even when asked, residents and students say this is unacceptable, so the reaction is not good."

The 'medical vacuum' caused by collective actions of residents and medical school professors is expected to prolong further. University hospitals such as Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Chungnam National University Hospital have decided to close once a week starting as early as the 30th, citing the physical limits of medical staff. On days of closure, no outpatient or surgical treatments will be conducted, but emergency and critical patient care and surgeries will continue.