Gwangju Seo District Strengthens Integrated Care Project "Back Home" for Discharged Patients: "Even More Thorough Support"

Agreement with Gwangju Christian, Mujigae, Yes Orthopedic, Woorideul, and Kokkiri Hyu Hospitals
Establishing a support system from patient identification to provision of integrated medical and long-term care services

Kim Ikang, Mayor of Seo-gu, Gwangju, signed the agreement at the "Support for Returning Discharged Patients Home" MOU signing ceremony held on the 26th at the Health Education Hall of the Seo-gu Public Health Center, then posed for a commemorative photo with attendees. Provided by Seo-gu Office, Gwangju.

Seo District of Gwangju Metropolitan City is further strengthening its integrated care project "Back Home," which supports the stable return of discharged patients to the local community, ahead of the nationwide implementation of the Integrated Care Support Act.

On the 26th, Seo District signed a "Business Agreement to Support Discharged Patients' Return to Home" with five medical institutions, including Gwangju Christian Hospital, Mujigae Hospital, Yes Orthopedic Clinic, Woorideul Hospital, and Kokkiri Hyu Hospital, at the Health Education Hall of the Seo District Public Health Center. With this agreement, the number of partner medical institutions has expanded to a total of 19.

Under the agreement, the medical institutions will identify and refer eligible patients by assessing discharged patients' social and economic circumstances and their level of physical function, while Seo District has pledged budgetary and administrative support, including the provision and monitoring of integrated services.

"Back Home" is a project that establishes a close cooperation system with local medical institutions to provide stable and timely integrated medical and long-term care services to patients discharged from acute-care hospitals. It supports patients who are scheduled to be discharged or have been discharged from hospital-level or higher medical institutions and who are at high risk of readmission and require complex support.

In cooperation with medical institutions, Seo District comprehensively evaluates inpatients' health and living conditions before discharge to identify eligible patients and establish individualized care plans. Through this, it builds a continuous management system to ensure that medical care and welfare are not cut off after discharge.

Eligible beneficiaries receive customized integrated services, including health and medical support (home visits by doctors, home-based customized exercise programs, home-visit dental care, etc.), housing support (home repairs, provision of temporary care housing, installation of safety bars, etc.), daily living support (meal services, housekeeping, nursing, caregiving, etc.), discharge escort services, as well as AI social worker services and smart home-care services.

Kim Igang, mayor of Seo District, said, "Through the 'Back Home' project, we will closely link medical care and welfare even before discharge to prevent readmissions and further strengthen the community-centered integrated care system."

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