Health ministry to take charge of national university hospitals

The health ministry said it will take charge of regional national university and dental hospitals from Aug. 20, ending a 21-year effort to shift responsibility and recast them as regional hubs for severe and essential care.

The ministry will support recruitment in essential clinical departments and increase rewards for long-serving personnel. It plans to add about 460 full-time faculty members at national university hospitals over four years in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and thoracic surgery, among other essential specialties.

Moving away from uniform support, it will select specialties for concentrated assistance based on medical demand in the five regions and three special zones and each hospital's strengths. The ministry said concentrated support will strengthen the basis for regional residents to receive needed treatment without travelling to the Seoul metropolitan area.

The ministry will strengthen dedicated cooperation teams at national university hospitals to coordinate patient transfers, referrals and treatment partnerships for severe and emergency cases. Health insurance reimbursement will be strengthened for their delivery of regional, essential and public healthcare.

It will pursue removing the hospitals' designation as other public institutions after consultations with relevant ministries. The change would give hospitals more flexibility in hiring and operations. It also plans tailored management systems to protect their public role and accountability.

National university hospital presidents will become co-chairs of regional essential-healthcare committees and lead coordination of local issues and collaboration among medical institutions.

Lee Hyeong-hun, the health ministry's second vice minister, said, "This transfer is not merely a change in the ministry that manages national university hospitals, but a new beginning for the health ministry, as the specialist ministry for health care, to properly foster them as core hospitals in the five regions and three special zones."

On July 21, the ministry established a National University Hospital Policy Division to formulate mid- and long-term development strategies and pursue financial investment and institutional reforms for hospitals' clinical, research, education and public-policy functions.