"We wanted to bring a little of the warmth of the holiday — the feeling of being with family — to patients who have to spend chuseok in the hospital for treatment," said Park Byung-mo, chairman of the Jaseng Medical Foundation. Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine held chuseok events Tuesday for patients at its wards across the country ahead of the holiday.
Organized by the Jaseng Medical Foundation, the events took place at seven hospitals in the Jaseng network nationwide: Nowon, Daejeon, Boramae, Busan, Incheon, Changwon and Cheonan.
Incheon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine hosted a "Games of Childhood Memories" event for inpatients, featuring a lineup of classic pastimes including a prize-draw game, a shooting game, a bottle-cap game, a stopwatch challenge and a stone-throwing game. Participants received gift sets of tuna, ham and dried seaweed, along with ssanghwacha herbal tea and other prizes to add to the festive spirit.
Daejeon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine also set up simple games — pitching arrows into a pot, archery and a water-bottle-stacking challenge — so patients could enjoy the holiday mood. Mindful of patients' health, the hospital prepared herbal refreshment drinks and Korean herbal patches as prizes.
The scent of freshly made songpyeon rice cakes filled the wards at Cheonan Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, where inpatients gathered to shape the traditional holiday treat together and exchange warm words of encouragement. Making the familiar holiday food by hand sparked easy conversation and a sense of connection among patients.
One patient who took part said making songpyeon for the first time in a long while brought back the holiday atmosphere and that exchanging kind words with fellow patients was a joy. "I was sad not to be with my family because of treatment, but it was nice to be able to feel the holiday spirit like this," the patient said.
Busan Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine ran a "persimmon-picking" event evoking the feel of the autumn harvest season. Patients who plucked model persimmons attached to the hospital wall received coins redeemable at a prize-draw machine, and the suspense of not knowing what prize would come out added to the fun — drawing an enthusiastic response from patients.
Nowon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine offered a "healing lantern-making" workshop where patients decorated their own lanterns for a moment of calm. Boramae Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine and Changwon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine distributed lucky pouches to patients, wishing them good health and a speedy recovery.
"Going forward, we will continue to look carefully after not only patients' physical recovery through treatment but also their emotional well-being, and we will keep developing a variety of programs so they can spend comfortable and enjoyable time even while in the hospital," foundation Chairman Park said.
kty@heraldcorp.com
