Gyeonggi Province to Establish 5 Additional Elderly Specialty Hospitals

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 24th that it plans to establish five additional state-run elderly specialty hospitals to provide dedicated treatment for patients with age-related diseases such as dementia and stroke.

The regions where the elderly specialty hospitals will be built are Tapdong-dong in Dongducheon City, Subang-myeon in Namyangju City, Gwangseok-dong in Siheung City, Doil-dong in Pyeongtaek City, and four other locations, plus Northern Region 3 (Goyang or Paju), for a total of five locations.

The province decided to establish the hospitals through a method in which private medical corporations provide the hospital sites while the province supports construction costs, allocating 160 billion won per hospital for a total construction budget of 800 billion won.

The province plans to open the Dongducheon hospital around October and complete the design of the Namyangju hospital in the first half of this year, commence construction in the second half, and complete it by the end of next year.

The Siheung and Pyeongtaek hospitals will proceed through design and other procedures with construction planned for late this year, while Northern Region 3 will select one location through a competition between Goyang and Paju, with construction scheduled to begin next year.

Each hospital will have a basement level, three above-ground floors, and a total floor area of 6,900 square meters, with approximately 230 beds per hospital. The facilities will be equipped with various medical equipment and specialists to provide specialized treatment for elderly patients with age-related diseases.

In particular, at least 30 percent of inpatient beds will be allocated to low-income patients such as recipients of basic living security, providing free medical care benefits.

Previously, the province opened the Yongin Hospital (259 beds) in 1999 and the Yeoju Hospital (204 beds) in 2002, which it continues to operate as state-run elderly specialty hospitals.

A province official stated, "The Dongducheon hospital is currently under construction, and except for Northern Region 3, we have selected all medical corporations to operate hospitals in other regions and are proceeding with design and licensing procedures. By the end of next year, the number of state-run elderly hospitals will increase significantly, enabling specialized treatment for elderly patients suffering from dementia and stroke."