Health ministry names Ajou hospital, Wonju Severance as regional trauma centers

The health ministry said Monday it has selected Ajou University Hospital and Yonsei University's Wonju Severance Christian Hospital as regional trauma centers, part of a push to close the last gaps in the country's severe-trauma care system.

Ajou University Hospital was chosen outright from among six applicants, while Wonju Severance was selected on condition that it fills its staffing plan by the end of the year. Both will receive up to 7.71 billion won ($5.76 million) each — 5.46 billion won ($4.08 million) for expanded facilities and equipment and 2.25 billion won ($1.68 million) for helipads and related infrastructure.

Six institutions applied to the open call for the country's 17 regional trauma centers, and a selection committee combined a quantitative assessment of clinical infrastructure with a qualitative review of business plans before confirming the two winners. Ajou will move into grant procedures as soon as it revises its project plan.

Wonju Severance must supplement its year-by-year staffing plans and complete this year's hiring by Dec. 31. If it fails to fill the positions within the year, the grant decision will be canceled and the subsidy must be returned.

Regional trauma centers take responsibility for the most critical cases, including patients requiring highly difficult surgery and those with special trauma such as pediatric or facial injuries, and serve as the backbone of a wider network that uses helicopters to bring patients from outside their home region for final treatment.

With the two new designations, the ministry expects patients to receive the specialized treatment they need regardless of where they live, even when a local center or a regional emergency center is saturated. Severely injured patients are currently transported first to regional trauma centers under each province's patient transfer guidelines, while regional emergency medical centers support and supplement their care.

"Through this selection of regional trauma centers, we will solidify a responsible treatment system for severe trauma that overcomes the capacity limits of each region, building a dense medical safety net so that severely injured patients anywhere in the country can be treated in time," said Lee Jung-kyu, the ministry's public health policy director. "We will also closely manage and support the conditionally selected institution so that it can staff up within the deadline and function normally as a regional trauma center."