The health ministry announced a decision Tuesday to extend financial support for hospitals struggling with staff shortages to have them hire 400 medical staff members for emergency room operations and other services amid a deepening health care crisis.
Hospitals have been forced to cut back on surgeries, outpatient treatment services, and emergency room operations, as a majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February in protest of the government’s plan to drastically increase the medical school admissions quota.
Concerns have mounted over further medical service disruptions ahead of the Chuseok holiday.
“The government will swiftly provide funds to hospitals to have them hire 400 new doctors and nurses for their operation of emergency rooms,” senior ministry official Jung Yoon-soon told a press briefing.
In detail, 160 doctors and 240 nurses would be employed for short-staffed hospitals nationwide, which is expected to require 3.7 billion won (US$2.75 million) per month, the ministr
y said.
It will be provided first to medical institutions experiencing serious staffing problems and emergency care centers, the official said.
The government also plans to designate 15 “major” emergency centers nationwide out of 136 regional entities to have them actively accept patients with serious cases and those in need of emergency treatments.
Health insurance payments to hospitals will be raised temporarily for the holiday, the ministry said.
As part of the medical system reform, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has vowed to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 seats per year over the next five years or so to address a shortage of doctors, and it finalized a hike of some 1,500 students for next year.
But doctors demand the government cancel the quota hike plan for next year and 2026 and have talks about the possible adjustment of the medical school seats for 2027 and afterward.
They claim that medical schools will not be able to handle the increased enrollment, which will comprom
ise the quality of medical education and ultimately the country’s medical services.
Source: Yonhap News Agency