Seoul City Designates Emergency Medical Care Period Until February 2
3,500 Clinics and Hospitals, 1,900 Pharmacies to Operate
Check Open Clinics and Pharmacies via Seoul City Website
Seoul City will designate the period from the 25th to February 2nd as the 'Emergency Medical Care Period' to strengthen the emergency medical system. In anticipation of emergency room overcrowding due to prolonged medical strikes and the influenza outbreak, 3,500 clinics and hospitals and 1,900 pharmacies will be operated.
First, the emergency medical system for urgent patients will operate 24 hours as usual during the Lunar New Year holiday. A total of 70 facilities, including 31 regional and local emergency medical centers such as Seoul National University Hospital, 18 local emergency medical institutions such as Seoul Seonam Hospital, and 21 hospitals operating emergency rooms, will be in continuous operation.
Seoul's 25 public health centers and 7 municipal hospitals will operate emergency medical teams for two days each by region during the four-day Lunar New Year holiday. Four hospitals?Seoul Medical Center, Boramae Hospital, Dongbu Hospital, and Seonam Hospital?will maintain a 24-hour emergency medical system to respond accordingly.
In particular, to ensure that citizens can smoothly access medical services during the eight-day Lunar New Year holiday, an average of about 5,400 facilities per day (3,500 clinics and hospitals and 1,900 pharmacies) will be open to reduce the overload on emergency rooms. Additionally, an 'Emergency Medical Care Situation Room' will be set up at City Hall during the holiday period to monitor the status of emergency medical institutions and the operation of open clinics and pharmacies.
To encourage participation of clinics and pharmacies open during the three-day holiday (28th?30th), minimal operating expenses will also be supported. Clinic subsidies are 300,000 KRW for 4 hours (per day), 500,000 KRW for 8 hours, with an additional 500,000 KRW for operations until 10 p.m. Pharmacies receive 200,000 KRW for 4 hours (per day), 300,000 KRW for 8 hours, and an additional 200,000 KRW for operations until 10 p.m. Support will be provided to institutions confirmed to operate for at least 4 hours per day.
Information on clinics and pharmacies open during the holiday can be found on Seoul City's '2025 Lunar New Year Holiday Comprehensive Information' website, the websites of the 25 autonomous districts, the Emergency Medical Portal, Naver Maps, and KakaoMap. It is also available on the mobile app 'Emergency Medical Information Service (e-gen)'.
Two Seoul-type Urgent Care Centers (UCC) supporting urgent nighttime treatment for mild patients who find it difficult to use emergency rooms, and four specialized hospitals by disease (surgical departments) will also operate normally during the holiday. The Seoul-type Urgent Care Centers provide treatment for acute conditions such as trauma and high fever daily from 9 a.m. to midnight, and the specialized hospitals provide 24-hour emergency surgical care daily.
For pediatric patients, eight 'Our Child Safe Hospitals' (semi-emergency) and three 'Our Child Specialized Emergency Centers' (severe emergency) will operate 24 hours. Mild patients can receive treatment at 10 'Our Child Safe Clinics' and 14 'Moonlight Children's Hospitals'.
Additionally, to provide rapid treatment for patients with respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza and COVID-19, fever clinics (for nighttime and holiday respiratory symptom patients) and cooperating hospitals (treating severe, moderate, and mild patients) will be operated. The prescription status and supply management of COVID-19 therapeutics will also be strengthened to block the spread of infectious diseases in the community. 'Over-the-counter safety medicines' (13 items) such as digestive aids, antipyretics and pain relievers, cold medicine, and patches can be easily purchased at 7,168 safety medicine sales outlets including convenience stores. The list of sales outlets can be checked on Seoul City's '2025 Lunar New Year Holiday Comprehensive Information' website.
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