The exterior of the pediatric emergency medical center at Ajou University Hospital in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. [Ajou University Hospital]
The exterior of the pediatric emergency medical center at Ajou University Hospital in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. [Ajou University Hospital]

Professors at the pediatric emergency medical center of Ajou University Hospital, which was raided by police in connection with the death of a child patient, have collectively signaled their intention to resign.

According to the hospital Wednesday, seven of the nine pediatric emergency specialists at the center have recently informed hospital management of their intent to leave.

However, the hospital said no one has yet submitted a formal resignation letter or left their position.

The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency raided the pediatric emergency medical center and other areas of the hospital on Sept. 30 in connection with the death of a child patient who died while receiving treatment at Ajou University Hospital in July.

The hospital has pushed back, saying that on the day of the raid, officers entered the emergency center without regard for patients being treated, spent an hour and a half checking computers and called for the submission of materials.

The hospital also said that on the day of the July incident, when the child patient died, police and forensic investigators entered the emergency room one after another while treatment of the child had not yet been completed, conducting photography and interviews. "The nurses and doctors present at the scene were treated like criminals," the hospital said.

The legitimacy of the police investigation also came under scrutiny at the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee comprehensive national audit on Tuesday.

People Power Party lawmaker Han Ji-a said she had heard that seven professors at Ajou University Hospital's pediatric emergency center decided to resign after watching Wednesday's national audit proceedings. "I appealed to them not to quit, but they said their hands were shaking and they could not treat patients within the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's jurisdiction," she said.

Earlier at the same audit session, Ham Yeong-uk, head of the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's wide-area investigation unit, appeared as a witness and repeatedly responded only that he found the situation "regrettable" when ruling and opposition party lawmakers called for an apology over the raid.

Ham said he found it "regrettable, as the investigative official in charge, that medical staff at the pediatric emergency room experienced disruptions to patient care during the search and seizure." He nonetheless maintained that the investigation was conducted properly, saying the dedicated medical incident investigation team had consulted in advance with hospital officials, waited until an examination room was empty and carried out the search and seizure to the minimum extent necessary, with relevant parties present.


betterj@heraldcorp.com