Medical professors serving as senior doctors at three major hospitals of Yonsei University launched an indefinite walkout Thursday, but little disruptions to hospital operations have been reported, officials said.
Professors at Severance Hospital, Gangnam Severance Hospital and Yongin Severance Hospital began suspending the treatment of outpatients, non-emergency surgeries and other services, except for the operation of emergency rooms and intensive care units, according to its emergency committee.
The walkout will continue until the government comes up with “tangible measures” to resolve the ongoing health care crisis as trainee doctors have left worksites since late February in protest of the government’s decision to raise the medical school admission quota, according to the officials.
It is not exactly known how many Yonsei medical professors took part in the strike, but hospital officials said their operations fell about 10 percent on-year and most planned treatments and other services have been provid
ed normally.
“Some professors are off today and tomorrow, but not many would do that next week,” a hospital official said.
“No major crisis has been reported, and there have been no cases where patients were turned away,” he added.
Individual professors are supposed to make their own decisions on whether to join the collective action.
But the strike put a damper on hopes for a breakthrough after medical professors affiliated with Seoul National University, Catholic University of Korea and Samsung Medical Center shelved plans to stage an indefinite walkout in apparent consideration of patients and the people.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA), a major doctors’ lobby group, earlier warned of an indefinite strike starting Thursday. But it changed course and decided to discuss their next steps during a meeting Saturday.
The KMA led a one-day strike last week, which involved some community doctors.
The government expressed regrets over the move and called for dialogue, reiterating its commitment to a gre
ater investment in medical education.
“Despite the decision, I believe that most medical professors will never leave their patients. The government will strive harder for dialogue with the medical circle to resolve the matter,” senior ministry official Kim Guk-il told a press briefing.
“The government has devised medical reform plans based on demands from the medical community and is gathering various opinions. We will listen to the voices of medical staff more carefully,” Kim said.
Despite calls for talks to seek a breakthrough, trainee doctors have not budged an inch while demanding the withdrawal of the plan to raise medical school enrollment.
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong told a parliamentary session Wednesday that the government “will try to come up with new measures” to resolve the situation.
Despite strong opposition from doctors, the government finalized an admissions quota hike of some 1,500 students for medical schools late last month in an effort to address the shortage of doctors.
Source: Y
onhap News Agency