Public health physicians are essential personnel who support local health care in county areas where there is a shortage of full-time doctors.
However, most of the public health workers in the military area are about to be discharged, and there is no news of a reduction in recruitment, raising concerns about a medical gap.
Reporter Kim Soo-yoon reports.
Residents wait for treatment at the public health branch in Goseong-eup, Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do.
Public health doctors are in charge of all treatment here, from filling out questionnaires to vaccinations.
Public health doctors work in medically vulnerable areas for three years in lieu of military service, but the deployment rate of public health doctors in the Gyeongnam region is only around 40%.
A public health officer is traveling to and from various public health centers to provide medical treatment.
In Goseong-gun, all nine public health workers in the county are scheduled to be discharged in April, and other county regions will also see a significant reduction in the number of personnel this year.
This is why concerns about the medical gap are bound to grow.
{Kim Jeong-ja/Goseong-eup, Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do/”Older people (living in a township) will probably be very uncomfortable. If they find a regular hospital room, the hospital bills will likely be higher…”}
The number of medical students choosing military doctors with shorter service periods than public service doctors is increasing, and the Ministry of National Defense is also reducing the number of public service doctors.
{Park Jae-il/Next President of the Public Health Medical Council/”(Compared to the Ministry of Health and Welfare), the decisions of the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration are mainly responsible, so public health doctors are sacrificed first to preserve military doctors…”}
County-level public health centers are requesting additional staff from Gyeongsangnam-do, but it is unclear how much will actually be added.
{Lee Eul-hee/Director of Goseong-gun Public Health Center/”(If the bulletin board is not deployed), there will be a huge disruption in the operation of emergency medical institutions and response to emergency patients, so if it is not deployed, difficulties will arise.”}
The regional doctor system, which fosters local doctors, will be implemented starting next year, but it is predicted that it will take several years for manpower to settle in the field.
“With the supply and demand of public health, the last bastion of local medical care, being shaken, realistic measures to prevent the collapse of medical care seem urgent.
“This is Kim Soo-yoon of KNN.”
Video coverage: Kwon Yong-guk
