The International Medical Center for Foreigners operated by Green Doctors, an international medical volunteer organization, marks its 20th anniversary this year. (Image courtesy of Green Doctors)
BUSAN, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – The International Medical Center for Foreigners operated by Green Doctors, an international medical volunteer organization, marks its 20th anniversary this year. The clinic has been providing free medical services to undocumented foreign workers living in medical blind spots.
On December 25, the Green Doctors Foundation announced that it held a commemorative event for the 20th anniversary of the clinic’s opening at ON Hospital in Danggam 2-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan on December 23. The event was attended by about 200 members and volunteers.
Established in 2003, the International Medical Center for Foreigners run by Green Doctors has treated about 60,000 foreign workers free of charge, excluding the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Woo Mu-young, director of the Green Doctors International Medical Center for Foreigners, reflected on the initial challenges faced by foreign workers. “When we started, many foreign workers on three-year employment visas fell into illegal status and medical blind spots due to deceitful promises of higher wages,” he said.
The nationalities of the foreigners who used the clinic include Chinese, Vietnamese, Uzbek, Kazakh, Indonesian, Nepalese, Mongolian, Pakistani, and Cambodian. Since 2019, the clinic has also been serving members of multicultural families and North Korean defectors.
Green Doctors operates the International Medical Center for Foreigners every Sunday afternoon on the sixth floor of On Hospital in Danggam 2-dong, Busanjin-gu. The center offers services in ophthalmology, dentistry, orthopedics, family medicine, and internal medicine. A pharmacy department staffed with pharmacists also provides medication services.
Jeong Geun, chairman of Green Doctors, stated, “The International Medical Center for Foreigners is the most active area of volunteer work that embodies our founding principle of practicing humanity beyond politics, religion, race, and national borders. We will continue our journey of service, fulfilling the value of sharing through the practice of humanity.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
