Soonchunhyang Hospital ER in Cheonan to close during nighttime

A medical worker walks by the emergency room at a hospital in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)

Amid monthslong medical disruptions, Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Cheonan said Tuesday that its ER would run at minimum capacity this week as several emergency medicine professors have tendered their resignations.

The medical institution said that four out of eight professors, who juggle as senior doctors at the hospital, had left their posts.

Emergency room operations will be suspended for 24 hours until Wednesday at 8 a.m., while nighttime emergency services at the ER will be halted from Wednesday until Sunday between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. However, it remains unclear if the emergency room will be able to fully function from next week due to staffing problems.

The four professors at Sunchunhyang University Hospital in Cheonan have reportedly been locking horns with the hospital's management team over personnel decision issues.

"We can't disclose the exact cause of the conflict, but the hospital plans to convince professors to return and not accept their letters," an official at the hospital told The Korea Herald.

"The hospital is deeply sorry for the inconvenience it caused patients by suddenly announcing the decision to shrink the ER. The hospital is trying hard so that operations at the ER can return to normal as soon as possible," the official added.

According to reports, failing to maintain normal operations in an emergency room may result in fines under the country's Emergency Medical Service Act. The official, however, said the hospital was unaware of such fines.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)