"4.02% of Medical Institutions Report Collective Action, Announcing Closure on the 18th"

The Korea Medical Association (KMA) has reported that medical institutions participating in the collective refusal of medical treatment and the general rally, and planning to close on the 18th, account for 4.02% of all medical institutions. The government plans to closely monitor the situation on the day of the collective closure and do its best to operate emergency medical services.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that 1,463 medical institutions had reported closures on the 18th, the day the medical community announced a collective closure. This corresponds to 4.02% of all targeted medical institutions.

Amid the medical community's declaration of a general strike on the 18th, on the 14th, a hospital union statement urging the withdrawal of the collective leave plan by Seoul National University Hospital faculty was posted at Boramae Hospital in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In response to the KMA's announcement of a collective closure, the government issued treatment orders and closure reporting orders under Article 59, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Service Act on the 10th to a total of 36,371 medical institutions (excluding dental clinics and Korean medicine clinics among clinic-level institutions, including some hospital-level institutions). Accordingly, medical institutions planning to close on the 18th had to report in advance by the 13th.

The government plans to issue work commencement orders under Article 59, Paragraph 2 of the Medical Service Act to all medical institutions on the 18th. Each medical institution must provide treatment on the day unless there is a legitimate reason despite the closure report.

If treatment orders and work commencement orders are violated, penalties such as suspension of work for up to 15 days, imprisonment for up to 3 years, or fines up to 30 million KRW may be imposed according to the Medical Service Act.

The government stated, "Although the pre-closure reporting rate is 4.02%, to minimize medical service gaps, we will closely monitor the collective closure situation on the 18th, the day of the collective action announcement, in cooperation with local governments, and do our best to operate the emergency medical system by guiding open hospitals and clinics through various media so that patients do not experience inconvenience in using local medical institutions."