Emergency patients over Chuseok drop 20% compared to previous holidays

The country saw a 20-percent drop in emergency patients over the Chuseok holiday compared to previous holidays, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. On average, 27,505 patients received treatment at emergency rooms daily during the holiday.

People walk in front of an emergency room at a general hospital in downtown Seoul on Wednesday, the last day of the Chuseok holiday. [NEWS1]

The country saw a 20-percent drop in emergency patients over the Chuseok holiday compared to previous holidays, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Wednesday.

On average, 27,505 patients received treatment at emergency rooms daily between last Saturday and Tuesday.

Emergency rooms admitted 39,911 and 36,996 patients during last year’s Chuseok and this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, respectively.

Of the patients during this Chuseok holiday, 16,157 were classified as patients with light symptoms, sliding from last Chuseok’s 26,003.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said that “shorthanded emergency rooms were able to focus on treatment for critically ill patients due to the public’s cooperation” during a briefing at the government complex in central Seoul on the same day.

Cho also credited doctors who remained in their posts by saying their efforts “maintained emergency medical services.”

The ministry also said that as of Tuesday, 1,865 doctors were working in some 180 emergency medical centers nationwide. The number of active doctors in emergency rooms had decreased by more than 400 compared to last year's fourth quarter, when over 2,300 doctors were registered as active.

As of Wednesday, a consultative body to resolve the medical impasse had not materialized.

Doctors and the presidential office have failed to compromise on medical schools' admission expansions for the 2025 academic year, frustrating the parliament’s hopes of initiating the discussion before the Chuseok holiday ends.

On Wednesday, conservative People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon wrote on his Facebook page that he asked doctors to join the consultative body over the Chuseok holiday. He also asked the government to take a more "lenient approach."

Han wrote that medical professionals he met during the holiday wanted to solve the current medical void and showed grave concern toward public health.

He stressed the only way to solve the current conflict was "to talk."

During his appearance in a pre-recorded local CBS radio show aired on Tuesday, Han said that “now is the time when all stakeholders should fulfill their responsibilities to resolve the medical vacuum" rather than blaming one another.

Han said people’s anxiety about medical services is proof that the health care void was real. He added that the collapse of the health care system is “not a risk that can be taken.”

While lawmakers are joining hands, the failure of other interested parties to agree on the ongoing situation undermines the possibility of the consultative body's successful launch.

Since last week, the government has been pushing its message that “emergency medical services are being provided as usual.” This message suggests that the government is in denial regarding medical service disruptions observed nationwide.

The presidential official also ruled out adjusting the enrollment quota for medical schools in the 2025 academic year, saying it was “off the table.”

Last Friday, the nation’s largest doctors’ group, the Korean Medical Association (KMA), demanded the government halt its investigation into junior doctors and readjust enrollment quotas in medical schools for the upcoming academic year.

The KMA said the current medical vacuum is “insolvable unless the government acknowledges its faulty policies.”

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