Busan City, Gijang County, and Seosaeng-myeon Collaborate to Launch the East Busan Essential Medical System Project

Southeast Nuclear Medicine Center to Operate Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Center Starting in March

As a result of years of joint efforts by Busan City, Gijang County, Seosaeng-myeon, the local political community, and the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, the long-cherished project to safeguard the golden hour for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular emergencies has come to fruition.

The "Eastern Busan Essential Medical System Support Project" involves a total investment of 5.3 billion KRW to establish a Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Center within the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (located in Jangan-eup, Gijang County) to secure the golden hour for emergency patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

The support budget totals 5.3 billion KRW (Busan City: 100 million, Gijang County: 3.2 billion, Seosaeng-myeon Regional Coexistence Fund: 2 billion), which will be used for constructing a dedicated operating room and purchasing equipment such as angiography machines and surgical microscopes.

This budget acquisition is being positively evaluated as a model of public-private cooperation in the public healthcare sector.

Busan City and Gijang County secured the support budget through this year’s main and supplementary budgets, and the project gained momentum with the confirmation of the Seosaeng-myeon residents’ coexistence fund support on the 20th.

Gijang County and Seosaeng-myeon previously had limited access to regional cardiovascular and cerebrovascular centers (Dong-A University Hospital, Ulsan University Hospital), making it difficult to secure the golden hour for emergency patients. However, with the new center at the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, faster transport and treatment will become possible.

The Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Center at the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences is scheduled to break ground this October, be completed and equipped by February next year, and officially begin operations in March.

The institute will start preparations, including recruiting specialized personnel for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular care, to ensure full operation from March next year.

National Assembly member Jung Dongman (Busan Gijang County) stated, "For the past four years, I have been persuading relevant ministries and local governments, explaining the need for a local brain and cardiovascular center and requesting support. With the recent confirmation of the local government budget, I am proud to fulfill my promise to the residents and help make Gijang County safer and healthier."

Lee Changhun, Director of the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, said, "Thanks to the great interest and support from local governments and the political community, we are now able to expand essential public healthcare services. Although there are challenges such as securing specialists, we will diligently prepare with a strong sense of mission as a public healthcare provider."

Busan City, Gijang County, and Seosaeng-myeon collaborate to launch the "East Busan Essential Medical System Establishment Project." (Neurosurgery Chief Manager Kim Jeongsu performing brain surgery)