The Asan Medical Center in Seoul (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Apr. 5 (Korea Bizwire) –The Asan Medical Center in Seoul has racked up losses of more than 50 billion won over the past 40 days, a staggering financial toll from a nationwide strike by resident physicians protesting the government’s plan to expand medical school admissions.
In an email to faculty members on April 3, Park Seung-il, the medical center’s director, said the hospital had incurred a net loss of 51.1 billion won from February 20 to March 30. The government’s support during that period amounted to just 1.7 billion won through higher medical fees, he wrote.
“It has been an excruciating time with the doctors on strike for over a month now,” Park said in the email, adding that the hospital had entered an emergency operations mode on March 15.
If the strike persists, he warned, losses could balloon to around 460 billion won by year’s end.
Park attributed the outsized losses to the hospital’s heavy reliance on outpatient visits and admissions, both of which have plunged amid the strike. Outpatient visits have dropped 17 percent compared to 11 percent at Samsung Medical Center, while inpatient admissions have fallen 43 percent versus 28 percent at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, he said.
The email outlined cost-cutting measures including reductions in academic activity funding, limits on overseas conference travel, cuts to departmental budgets and delays in payments meant to encourage better care.
“We had to make these decisions through simulations to estimate the limits of the hospital’s sustainability without prior consultation, and I ask for your understanding,” Park wrote.
The protracted disruption has put a growing financial strain on hospitals across the country. Seoul National University Hospital switched to an emergency management system on April 2, while the Yonsei University Health System has been operating under similar emergency protocols since mid-March.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
