Over 1,800 health care facilities in Seoul to remain open during Chuseok holiday

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Monday that 500 local clinics, 25 public health centers and seven city-run hospitals will remain open during Chuseok as an effort to keep its “full-scale” emergency medical system up and running.

A patient is transported to an emergency room in a general hospital in Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Monday that 500 local clinics, 25 public health centers and seven city-run hospitals will remain open during Chuseok as an effort to keep its “full-scale” emergency medical system up and running.

The city government will also mandate some 1,300 pharmacies remain open to help people’s access to medications during the Chuseok holiday period, which runs from Sept. 14 to 18 this year.

The number of Seoul-based health care institutions available during the holiday is expected to total over 1,800. This figure is 1.5 times higher than the number of health care facilities that remained open during the previous Lunar New Year holiday in February.

The city government said the measures aim to alleviate emergency room overcrowding and streamline patient care.

The city's 25 public health centers in each district and seven city-managed hospitals will treat patients with light and mild symptoms. The public health centers will also offer internal and family medicine services.

Emergency rooms at Seoul-based general hospitals, 31 regional and local emergency medical centers, 18 local emergency medical agencies and 20 hospitals with emergency rooms will operate round-the-clock during the holiday, according to the city government.

Emergency medical agencies refer to facilities with one or two or more emergency physicians and more than five nurses, while emergency medical centers have four physicians and at least 10 nurses.

The city will additionally spend 7.1 billion won ($5.3 million) to strengthen its capability to respond to medical emergencies.

The financial support will cover the labor costs of emergency physicians and medical specialists on duty during the holiday.

Specifically, seven regional emergency medical centers will receive 1.12 billion won, and 24 local emergency medical centers will receive 2.88 billion won. The remaining 3.1 billion won will be given to hospitals to support medical specialists who treat patients referred by emergency rooms.

People can check the details of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies open during the holiday by calling the emergency control center at 119 or Dasan Call Center 120 or using the “e-gen” application on their mobile devices.

“The city government will utilize all viable resources to support emergency patient care,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, asking for medical staff’s “help in preventing medical vacuum during the holiday.”

On the same day, President Yoon Suk Yeol asked for cooperation between local municipalities and the central government by taking a “belt-and-braces" approach to health care during the Chuseok holiday, said Jeong Hey-jeon, presidential spokesperson, during a briefing.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said 15 military doctors will be dispatched to emergency rooms on Wednesday, particularly to facilities where emergency patient care has been strained due to physician shortages.

It also added that some 235 military and public health doctors — serving in rural areas instead of mandatory military service — will treat civilians at general hospitals starting Sept. 9.

“The ministry will put its best effort to minimize delays and disruptions in patient care for emergency and critical cases" between Sept. 11 and Sept. 25, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said during a briefing on Monday.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]