Ministries of Health and Welfare, Education unveil development plan for national university hospitals; resident physician allocation to regional facilities to rise to 20%

Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong speaks at a forum on comprehensive development strategies for national university hospitals, held Monday at Chungnam National University Hospital in Jung-gu, Daejeon. [Yonhap]
Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong speaks at a forum on comprehensive development strategies for national university hospitals, held Monday at Chungnam National University Hospital in Jung-gu, Daejeon. [Yonhap]

The government plans to consolidate clinical data from public hospitals into a single platform to lay the groundwork for advanced treatment technology development, while nurturing specialized fields at national university hospitals based on regional medical demand.

The plan calls for a steady expansion of full-time faculty and an increase in resident physician allocations to regional national university hospitals to at least 20 percent, supporting both training and the long-term placement of specialists under the regional physician system.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education jointly announced the plan — titled "Comprehensive Development Direction for National University Hospitals to Strengthen Regional and Essential Medical Care" — on Monday at Chungnam National University Hospital in Daejeon.

The government said it would strengthen the clinical, education and research functions of national university hospitals in response to a widening medical gap between the Greater Seoul area and the rest of the country, driven by an increasing concentration of healthcare resources in the capital region.

Clinical data platform to strengthen research capacity at national university hospitals

The government's first priority is to build the capacity of national university hospitals to treat serious conditions such as cancer locally and to provide timely care for acute essential medical cases, including emergencies and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

To that end, the government will work with related ministries to continuously expand full-time faculty and ease wage regulations. The goal is to raise the specialist-to-bed ratio at regional national university hospitals — currently about 2.3 per 10 beds — to the level seen at major hospitals in the Greater Seoul area, which stands at roughly 4.3 per 10 beds at Seoul's five largest hospitals.

AI technology will also be incorporated. In the near term, the government will support the adoption of AI-based clinical systems already in use in the private sector for diagnostic assistance and real-time patient monitoring. Over the medium to long term, it will pursue the development of next-generation hospital information systems powered by AI.

The plan also supports specialized development tailored to each region's medical demand and each hospital's strengths. The southeastern industrial corridor, for example, will receive focused support in trauma and rehabilitation — areas selected as representative specializations for that region.

Alongside this, the government plans to advance research into serious and rare intractable diseases at national university hospitals and drive innovation in medical technology.

It will help hospitals secure core research equipment and specialized research support staff to strengthen research capacity, and expand industry-academia-research-hospital collaborative R&D budgets so hospitals can participate jointly with regional industries, universities and research institutions.

The government will also increase the involvement of regional national university hospitals in existing public health and medical R&D support programs, building a virtuous cycle that goes beyond research funding to encompass hands-on research experience, researcher training and the development of industry-academia-research-hospital networks.

Clinical data that individual hospitals cannot easily obtain on their own will be supplemented through data-sharing links among national university hospitals.

A centralized clinical data warehouse platform will aggregate data from all national university hospitals and public hospitals, including the National Cancer Center, giving these institutions access to data on par with major hospitals in the Greater Seoul area. The platform is intended to enable national university hospitals to participate in developing the latest anticancer drugs, treatments for rare and intractable diseases, and advanced therapeutic technologies.

Resident physician training and retention support to drive higher allocations to national university hospitals

The government will also support national university hospitals in becoming the central training institutions for regional essential medical talent, including physicians under the regional physician system.

The share of resident physician positions allocated to regional national university hospitals — currently about 17.8 percent — will be raised to at least 20 percent. Clinical education and training centers will be established to offer simulation-based advanced education programs, and supervising physician training programs overseeing resident education will be operated primarily through national university hospitals.

To ensure the stable establishment of the regional physician system, local governments and universities will provide support across the full cycle — from the student stage through residency training to specialist placement. Tailored curricula, clinical practicum programs and settlement support will also be offered to strengthen regional physicians' capabilities in essential medical fields.

National university hospitals will plan and operate collaborative training programs within their regions and expand cooperative residency tracks linked to a range of medical institutions, including secondary hospitals and specialty hospitals. The aim is to give resident physicians experience with a diverse patient mix — from critically ill and emergency cases to community patients.

A phased education and training system covering nursing students, newly licensed nurses and experienced nurses will also be established to develop high-quality nursing professionals.

Separately, the government will expand national university hospitals' participation in central government policy bodies — including the Public Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee — so the hospitals can serve as the coordinating hub for cooperation among regional medical institutions.

At the regional level, national university hospital presidents will be appointed as co-chairs of provincial essential medical committees, cementing their role as the focal point of regional essential medical cooperation. Performance-based rewards for essential and public medical care will also be strengthened for individual hospitals.

"Having a national university hospital in the region where people can trust they will receive proper treatment means people can live with peace of mind in their communities," Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong said. "We will increase support so that national university hospitals can become the institutions responsible for regional essential medical care and the core bases for research, education and public health."


thlee@heraldcorp.com