Busan City is taking action to address the gap in pediatric night and holiday medical care.
Starting January 1, Busan City announced that two Dalbit Children's Hospitals-Myeongji Children's Hospital in Gangseo-gu and Happy Children's Hospital-will operate on a full-time basis. This measure aims to improve access to night and holiday care for children with mild illnesses and to alleviate emergency room overcrowding.
Dalbit Children's Hospitals are local medical institutions that treat pediatric patients with mild conditions during weekday nights and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, in addition to regular emergency room services. Their purpose is to reduce waiting times and financial burdens associated with emergency room visits.
Both hospitals will be open until 11 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and public holidays. Myeongji Children's Hospital had previously provided care only on holidays since February of last year, but as of today, it has transitioned to full-time operation, including weekday nights. Happy Children's Hospital has been newly designated as a Dalbit Children's Hospital this year.
With these new designations, the total number of Dalbit Children's Hospitals operating in Busan has increased to nine. These include Jeonggwan Woori Children's Hospital in Gijang-gun, I Sarang Hospital in Yeonje-gu, 99 Seoul Pediatric Clinic in Dongnae-gu, I Seoul Hospital in Yeongdo-gu, Busan The Kids Hospital in Saha-gu, Haeundae Blue Sea Hospital in Haeundae-gu, Geumjeong Pediatric Clinic in Geumjeong-gu, and Myeongji Children's Hospital and Happy Children's Hospital in Gangseo-gu.
The city plans to expand Dalbit Children's Hospitals in western Busan to provide care for children with mild illnesses locally, thereby distributing the use of emergency rooms at tertiary hospitals. This is part of a mid- to long-term strategy to reduce the inconvenience for guardians who previously had no choice but to visit emergency rooms due to a lack of night and holiday clinics, and to improve access to pediatric emergency care. Although the child population in Gangseo-gu has increased due to new town development, the lack of adequate pediatric night care has led to a concentration of emergency room visits.
In eastern Busan, operating hours will also be extended. Starting today, Jeonggwan Woori Children's Hospital in Gijang-gun will provide care until midnight on both weekdays and weekends, including public holidays. The operating hours have been extended from 11 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and from 6 p.m. to midnight on holidays.
Cho Gyuyul, Director of the Busan City Citizens' Health Bureau, stated, "The transition to full-time operation and the new designations are not short-term responses, but policies that have been gradually prepared to meet the increasing demand for pediatric emergency care. We will continue to expand the pediatric emergency care infrastructure by analyzing local conditions and medical usage patterns."
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