YANGJU — The city of Yangju in Gyeonggi Province is accelerating efforts to build a public hospital early to close a chronic gap in essential medical care in northeastern Gyeonggi. The city is taking its case beyond the local government level to the central government, giving concrete shape to its push to secure a regional medical hub.
Yangju Mayor Chung Duck-young visited the National Assembly on the 1st and met with Health and Welfare Minister Jung Eun-kyeong, together with lawmaker Chung Sung-ho. At the meeting, Chung described the poor medical conditions across northeastern Gyeonggi, including Yangju, Dongducheon and Yeoncheon, as well as the sharp rise in demand for care driven by new town development. He asked the government for support and cooperation to build a public medical center in northeastern Gyeonggi as soon as possible.
The visit follows Chung's trip to Gyeonggi Governor Choo Mi-ae on Sept. 16, when he requested that the project be moved up. Yangju is building a multi-layered cooperation framework spanning the provincial government and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and is making the case for starting construction early.
Yangju, Dongducheon and Yeoncheon have far too few general hospital-level facilities, leaving the foundation for essential care extremely weak. Emergency and critically ill patients are transferred to other regions for treatment. Demand has been expanding by the day for emergency and critical care as well as essential services such as pediatrics and obstetrics, particularly as the population surges with move-ins at the Okjeong and Hoecheon new towns.
The city expects that a public medical center would sharply improve access in underserved parts of northeastern Gyeonggi and serve as a core hub strengthening the area's emergency response system.
"A public medical center is not a facility for one local government alone. It is essential infrastructure to protect the lives and health of all residents in areas that lack such services," Chung said. "We will work closely with Gyeonggi Province and the central government to secure early construction, so that residents are not left out of medical care depending on where they live."
