The chaos in South Korea’s medical field intensified on Feb. 22, the third day after most residents responsible for surgeries and hospital wards resigned en masse and vacated their positions. As surgeries and hospitalizations were successively postponed or canceled at Seoul’s major hospitals, known as the “Big Five”—Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital, Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital—patients turned to medium-sized hospitals, leading to widespread disruptions in treatments and surgeries. The government has decided to elevate the healthcare crisis level from the current “alert” to the highest “serious” level. This action will establish the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, led by the Prime Minister and involving relevant ministries and local governments nationwide.
In a briefing that day, Park Min-soo, the Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, said, “As of Feb. 21, 9,275 residents, or 74.4% of the residents from the country’s 100 major training hospitals, have submitted their resignations,” and “Among them, 8,024 (64.4%) have left their workplaces.” The number of resignations had increased by 459, and those who had left their workplaces increased by 211 from the previous day.
The five hospitals on Feb. 22 reduced surgeries and hospitalizations to 50% of the usual level. The Big Five receive critically ill patients from all over the country, with more than 10,000 beds and over 50,000 outpatient visits daily. Patients who could not receive care at these hospitals have turned to mid-sized general hospitals, causing medical chaos to spread in all directions.
A diabetic patient in his 60s from Yangyang, Gangwon Province, called an ambulance on the morning of Feb. 21 due to necrosis in his right leg. However, hospitals in Gangneung and Sokcho rejected him, saying, “We do not have the capacity due to the residents’ strike.” After traversing hundreds of kilometers and moving from one emergency room to another, the patient received treatment at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital within three hours.
