Regional Trauma Centers to Be Consolidated into Regional Hub Trauma Centers
State to Assume Full Responsibility for Employment, Operation, and Litigation
At Least One Doctor Helicopter to Be Deployed in Each Metropolitan and Provincial Area
Criminal Liability Exempted for Compliance with Emergency Care Guidelines
Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, pledged on May 14 to introduce a "National Full Responsibility System for Regional Trauma Centers" in order to address workforce shortages and deficits in emergency and critical essential medical care, as well as to reduce litigation risks.
On this day, Lee announced his plan to consolidate inefficiently dispersed regional trauma centers into larger regional hubs and to implement a system in which the state assumes full responsibility for their operation and any litigation.
To maximize the effectiveness of the severe trauma care system, he plans to merge the 17 existing regional trauma centers into a smaller number of regional hub trauma centers. The state will assume complete responsibility for the employment, operation, and litigation related to these regional hub trauma centers.
In particular, he will reorganize patient triage and strengthen the air transport system to ensure rapid patient transfers. As part of this, at least one doctor helicopter will be deployed in each metropolitan and provincial area, and it will be mandatory to secure urban emergency landing zones.
He also unveiled plans to establish Korean-style emergency care guidelines and to revise the system so that medical professionals who comply with these guidelines in their practice will be exempt from criminal liability.
Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate of the Reform New Party, is delivering a greeting at the Daegu Medical Association and Gyeongsangbuk-do Medical Association regional healthcare issues meeting held at the Daegu Medical Association Hall on the 13th. Photo by Yonhap News
The previous day, Lee listened to concerns about workforce shortages in emergency and critical essential medical care during a meeting with medical professionals in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. In fact, the medical community points out that, at Seoul National University Hospital's emergency medicine department, more than half of the residents have experienced police investigations, as excessive medical lawsuits have discouraged active medical practice.
Additionally, he pledged to designate national responsibility-operated regional hub emergency medical centers for patients with the most severe emergencies, to strengthen direct support for hospitals accepting emergency patients, and to enhance the legal authority of safety personnel and security guards at emergency medical institutions.
The Reform New Party's election campaign headquarters emphasized, "By having the state take responsibility for time-critical emergency and trauma care, we will ensure that medical professionals can focus on their primary mission of saving patients' lives."
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