[Interview] Chose Andong Over Seoul... The Paradox of a Hospital Revitalizing a City Through Essential Medical Care

Chairman Kang Shinhong:
"Critical and Emergency Care Is a National Responsibility
True 'Comprehensive Healthcare' Requires Parking and Transportation Infrastructure"

The reality of regional healthcare has always been harsh. Skilled professionals leave for the Seoul metropolitan area, and critically ill patients are loaded into ambulances at dawn and driven for hours. This is the background behind the widespread belief that "for serious illnesses, you have to go to Seoul."

However, in Andong, located in northern North Gyeongsang Province, this paradigm is gradually changing. Andong Hospital has chosen "regional comprehensive treatment" instead of transferring all patients to the metropolitan area, and has embraced essential medical care not as a cost, but as a responsibility.

Kang Sinhong, Chairman of Andong Hospital Photo by Byunggeon Kwon

Throughout the interview, Chairman Kang Shinhong defined healthcare not as "welfare," but as "survival infrastructure." He stated, "If emergency, trauma, cardiovascular, and critical care do not function, that city is no longer a place where people can live. Essential medical services are not a choice, but the minimum condition for a region to exist."

◆ "Responsibility, Not Deficit"…Annual Investment of 10 Billion KRW in Essential Medical Services The path chosen by Andong Hospital was not an easy one.

Critical and essential medical care requires significant personnel, equipment, and operational costs, but the profitability is low. Most private hospitals avoid this area. Nevertheless, Andong Hospital went against the trend. The hospital continued to invest in emergency, trauma, and cardiovascular care in order to establish a system that enables the treatment of high-risk, critically ill patients within the region.

The resulting financial burden amounts to between 8 billion and 12 billion KRW per year. Chairman Kang explained, "From a business management perspective, this is a level that is difficult to bear, but it is a public investment to protect essential medical care for the community," adding, "The term 'deficit' is not appropriate. This is a matter of responsibility."

◆ The "Final Treatment Hub" of Northern Gyeongsang Province…Fulfilling the Role of a Public Hospital Andong Hospital effectively serves as the public healthcare hub for northern Gyeongsang Province.

It operates key national policy projects such as the Regional Emergency Medical Center, Regional Trauma Center, Regional Cardiovascular Disease Center, and the Doctor Helicopter program, taking responsibility for the final treatment of critically ill patients.

"Emergency, trauma, and cerebrovascular care are the minimum conditions for a city's survival" Photo by Byunggun Kwon

The hospital has assigned 14 emergency medicine specialists, double the legal requirement of 7, and including pediatric specialists working nights and holidays, a total of 17 specialists are on duty at all times. The focus is not simply on "meeting standards," but on "minimizing gaps" in care.

"In a reality where there is a shortage of public hospitals, if the private sector ignores its public role, the residents ultimately suffer. If you are a local hospital, you must share that burden."

Chairman Kang's words reflected a sense of responsibility at the forefront of local healthcare.

◆ "The Hospital Is Population Policy"…More Than 1,300 People Moved In Over Four Years The role of the hospital does not end with medical care.

Andong Hospital has had a tangible impact on the local population structure. Over the past four years, 77.8% of its 6,239 employees have come from outside the region. A total of 1,382 people moved to Andong and settled there. They spend in the local community, form families, and become part of the resident population.

Chairman Kang said, "Stable jobs and medical infrastructure are a stronger population attraction policy than settlement support funds for university students," adding, "A hospital is not only a treatment institution, but also a key pillar supporting the local economy and population."

◆ A Hub Hospital Serving 6,000 People a Day…'Parking Shortage' Is Another Gap in Medical Care However, as the hospital has grown into a regional hub, new challenges have emerged.

The main issue is accessibility, particularly the "parking infrastructure." Andong Hospital sees an average of about 6,000 people per day, including patients, caregivers, medical staff, and visitors.

Although the hospital utilizes an underground parking lot, a rear parking lot, and a nearby riverside public parking lot, all these facilities are full during clinic hours. Traffic congestion and illegal parking have increased, making it even more difficult for elderly and emergency patients to move around.

Chairman Kang pointed out, "When emergency patients waste time searching for parking, that is another gap in medical care," and emphasized, "Parking and transportation should also be considered part of the medical infrastructure."

This is not a problem that can be solved by the hospital alone. Given its role as a key hospital in northern Yeongnam, it is a task that Andong City and North Gyeongsang Province must address together by expanding public parking lots, constructing multi-story parking facilities, and improving traffic flow as part of urban infrastructure solutions.

He explains that once essential medical capabilities are in place, a truly comprehensive healthcare system requires an environment where people can easily come and go.

◆ "A Hospital Is a Promise, Not Just a Building" As the interview concluded, he said:

"A hospital is not just a building, but a promise to protect people. Creating a city where people can receive treatment without having to go to Seoul-that is our reason for being."

Kang Shinhong, Chairman of Andong Hospital, is being interviewed by a reporter from The Asia Business Daily. Photo by Byunggun Kwon

The experiment at Andong Hospital is not just a case of hospital management. It is a strategy that holds on to essential medical care, to people, and to the city itself.

At a crossroads between metropolitan concentration and regional extinction, this is the place that most clearly proves the proposition that "healthcare is urban competitiveness." In Andong, that answer is gradually becoming a reality.

When discussing solutions for regional extinction, the focus is often only on industry and budgets. However, the final safety net that sustains a city is healthcare.

Andong Hospital has filled the "treatment gap" with essential medical services. Now it is time for local government to fill the "access gap" with improvements in transportation and parking. Only when healthcare and urban infrastructure move together can a region truly survive.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.