Lawmaker Kim Kyo-heung urges Health Ministry to establish public graduate medical school at Incheon National University during National Assembly audit; Incheon records highest rate of preventable deaths among eight major cities
A lawmaker has called for the establishment of a public graduate medical school at Incheon National University to address the city's chronic shortage of medical infrastructure and essential healthcare workers.
The push comes as Incheon records the highest rate of preventable deaths in the country and a significant share of its residents travel to other regions for medical care, underscoring the urgency of strengthening the city's public healthcare system.
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Kyo-heung, representing Incheon's Seohaegu-gap district, urged Health and Welfare Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong at Tuesday's comprehensive audit of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee to draw up measures to improve Incheon's medical conditions and establish a public graduate medical school at Incheon National University.
According to Kim, Incheon recorded 46 preventable deaths per 100,000 people — the highest in the country for five consecutive years.
The number of public hospital beds and physicians per 1,000 residents both fall below the national average, leaving the city's medical service infrastructure severely underdeveloped.
Only 78 percent of residents use medical services within the city, meaning roughly one in five Incheon residents travels elsewhere to receive care.
Kim said Incheon's medical conditions are worse than those in many provincial cities and that the healthcare system is weaker even compared with Busan and Daegu, which have similar population sizes.
The gap in medical personnel was also highlighted as a major problem. Incheon's medical institutions employ 3,841 doctors — fewer than the 4,180 in Daegu, which has a population more than 600,000 smaller than Incheon's.
Incheon has 1,886 specialists across eight essential medical fields, including internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics — roughly 1,000 fewer than Busan's 2,707.
Even with the regional physician system set to take effect, Incheon is not well-positioned to secure adequate medical personnel, Kim said.
Kim said that while the regional physician system is set to be fully implemented next year, only six regional physicians have been assigned to Incheon.
Kim also raised concerns that Incheon has been excluded from designation as an advanced medical complex, despite being home to world-class biotech companies such as Samsung Biologics and Celltrion.
Kim presented the establishment of a public graduate medical school at Incheon National University as the central solution to closing the city's healthcare gap.
The proposal calls for setting up the school at Incheon National University — the only regional hub national university without a medical college — to train physicians for local needs and build a stable pipeline of medical workers in coordination with public healthcare institutions.
Kim said the project can move forward quickly, as a site and budget for the school have already been secured.
Kim also said designating Incheon Medical Center as a training hospital would allow the city to link physician training with expanded public medical services while easing the financial burden on the center.
In response, Minister Jeong said the ministry would discuss ways to strengthen public healthcare with Incheon city officials.
Jeong said that since policies such as the regional physician system were announced only recently, the ministry would take time to review the bill Kim introduced to establish the public graduate medical school at Incheon National University.
Kim had led a group of Incheon-area lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties in jointly introducing the bill on Thursday.
A National Assembly forum on strengthening Incheon's public healthcare is planned for Nov. 16, where participants will discuss the need for and approach to establishing the public graduate medical school.
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
