Public Medical Institution to Open at Anseong Rest Area on Gyeongbu Expressway Starting October

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun, Reporter] A public medical institution offering basic internal medicine consultation, emergency treatment, and vaccinations will begin operations starting October at the Anseong Rest Area on the Seoul-bound Gyeongbu Expressway. The initiative is particularly significant as it represents the realization of an idea proposed by Gyeonggi Province residents—the establishment of a public hospital at a highway rest area—into actual policy.

Gyeonggi Province signed a 'Service Agreement for Installation of Public Medical Institutions at Highway Rest Areas' with Korea Expressway Corporation on the 10th. The agreement was conducted in writing without a separate signing ceremony due to COVID-19.

Under the agreement, both organizations will actively push forward the installation of public medical institutions at rest areas to ensure the safety of highway users and to provide treatment for emergency patients.

Building on this agreement, Gyeonggi Province plans to establish a plan for installing and operating the public hospital, and beginning in mid-June will recruit operating institutions from medical corporations, healthcare facility operating organizations, and school foundations.

Once an operating institution is selected, construction will immediately commence, with full operations beginning in October. The province plans to invest approximately 400 million won to establish the public medical institution as a prefabricated structure with a floor area of 76 square meters, where primary care including internal medicine and family medicine, vaccinations, and emergency patient treatment will be provided.

Korea Expressway Corporation will provide a portion of the Anseong Rest Area land for free as the public medical institution site and will provide on-site support for emergency patient treatment and transport.

The installation of a public medical institution at a highway was one of 32,691 citizen policy proposals submitted to the 'New Gyeonggi Committee' in 2018. The 'New Gyeonggi Committee,' which served as the transition team for incoming Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, opened an online policy proposal portal on a website of the same name in June and July 2018, coinciding with Governor Lee's inauguration, to directly receive policy ideas from residents.

Choi Young-sung, Director of the Health and Medical Policy Division of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The installation of a public medical institution at a highway is a core idea that received considerable interest when the proposal was adopted, and through this agreement, it has reached the implementation stage," adding, "We will prepare without delay to provide medical services beginning in October."