"Judge objectively on population and critical-care demand," hospital heads say
The heads of general hospitals in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, issued a joint statement Wednesday calling on the government to establish a national medical school at Sunchon National University rather than at the University of Mokpo. The decision on where to locate South Jeolla Province's national medical school, they said, "must not be driven by political interests, the vulnerabilities of a particular region, or inter-regional distribution logic, but should be made by objectively assessing the capacity for medical research, treatment, and the education and retention of doctors."
The group comprises the heads of five hospitals — Suncheon Sungabrolo Hospital (director Park Myeong-ok), Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service Suncheon Hospital (director Jeong Jae-yun), Suncheon Korea Hospital (director Kim Won), Suncheon Jungang Hospital (director Song Yeong-ung) and Suncheon Jeil Hospital (director An Sang-ho). Their central argument is that Sunchon National University leads the University of Mokpo on objective indicators and is therefore the more appropriate site.
The hospital heads said the eastern South Jeolla region — centered on Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang and extending into western South Gyeongsang Province — is a densely populated and industrialized area that urgently needs a specialized medical system and research base capable of responding to industrial accidents at facilities such as the Yeosu Petrochemical National Industrial Complex and the Gwangyang Steel Mill. They added that Suncheon's general hospitals already provide a clinical education foundation where medical students can gain experience with diverse patients and community medicine. Linking them with a medical school at Sunchon National University, they said, would allow the region to build a self-sufficient medical system covering critical and emergency care, industrial accident treatment and rehabilitation, and essential medical services.
Sungabrolo Hospital, with 600 beds, handles regional emergency medicine and critical-care treatment; the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service Suncheon Hospital covers industrial accident treatment and rehabilitation; and Korea Hospital, Jungang Hospital and Jeil Hospital together provide the medical infrastructure to support a medical school at Sunchon National University through their specialized expertise and clinical capacity, the group argued.
The hospital heads asked the government and the Gwangju-South Jeolla Special Integrated City to review three items.
They called for an objective comparison of medical conditions in the eastern and western parts of South Jeolla Province — evaluating population and critical-care demand on equal terms — to support establishing a medical school in the eastern region; the creation of a medical workforce training system linking a medical school with regional general hospitals so that doctors can be trained and retained locally; and the swift confirmation of a plan to establish a medical school at Sunchon National University to ensure residents have access to critical, emergency and essential medical care.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education recommended that Sunchon National University and the University of Mokpo submit a joint plan by Aug. 20 specifying the locations of both the medical school and the affiliated university hospital, to be filed together with the special integrated city authority. The two universities, however, remain locked in a standoff over where the medical school and hospital should be located.
parkds@heraldcorp.com
