Expectations Rise for Establishing a 'Regional Healthcare Safety Net'
Significance in Guaranteeing Health and Life for Honam Residents
Kim Youngrok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, immediately expressed his welcome on April 30 upon hearing the news that the preliminary feasibility study for the "Chonnam National University Hospital Future-Oriented New Smart Hospital Construction Project" had been approved.
Governor Kim stated, "This is a significant decision that goes beyond the simple construction of a new building, as it guarantees the right to health and life for residents of the Honam region." He added, "As the largest key medical institution in Honam, I hope the hospital will faithfully fulfill its role in establishing a regional healthcare safety net."
Chonnam National University Hospital serves as the central institution for critical care and emergency medical systems in Gwangju and Jeonnam.
The hospital was the first in the Honam and Chungcheong regions to achieve 1,000 organ transplants and successfully performed highly complex laparoscopic liver donor surgeries. These achievements have been recognized internationally, with Newsweek naming it one of the "World's Best Hospitals."
However, the hospital has faced difficulties in meeting the increasing regional healthcare demand due to outdated facilities over 40 years old and a shortage of beds.
Governor Kim said, "Through this new construction project, we expect to establish an integrated intensive care unit system for real-time patient monitoring, expand emergency and intensive care units, and especially strengthen treatment capabilities for infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, strokes, and respiratory illnesses." He added, "I hope the hospital will be successfully built as a future-oriented smart hospital based on ICT, representing the Honam region."
Meanwhile, with the approval of the preliminary feasibility study, Chonnam National University Hospital is expected to secure 240.7 billion won in national funding, which is 25% of the total project cost of 962.9 billion won for the new hospital construction.
The new hospital is planned to be built by 2034 on a 220,000-square-meter site that includes the current hospital grounds, the Chonnam National University Medical School Hakdong campus, and the College of Nursing, with a capacity of 1,070 beds.
In the first phase of the project, by 2030, a new building with 900 beds will be completed on the Hakdong campus of the medical school and the College of Nursing site, after which most hospital functions, including operating rooms and the regional emergency medical center, will be relocated.
Through the second phase, by 2034, the existing hospital building and the first parking lot will be demolished, and a new building with 170 beds and an advanced medical commercialization support center will be constructed.
The hospital plans to develop the new facility as an advanced technology convergence hospital based on ICT.
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