President Yoon Suk Yeol (C) visits a regional emergency medical center in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul on Sept. 4, 2024, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol made a late night visit to a hospital emergency room Wednesday to encourage medical staff and promise the government's unwavering support amid growing strains on health care services.
Yoon visited a regional emergency medical center in Gyeonggi Province surrounding Seoul as the government began deploying military doctors and public physicians to hospital emergency rooms across the country the same day.
His visit came amid mounting concerns hospital ERs in particular will be short-staffed during the upcoming five-day Chuseok holiday later this month as a result of the ongoing walkout by junior doctors protesting the government's medical reform plans.
According to the presidential office, Yoon noted during the visit that the health care system has failed to properly compensate ER medical staff for their services despite the harder work they do compared with their colleagues in other departments.
He also pointed out that compensation has not been fair for medical workers in essential health care services, such as the emergency, maternity, pediatric and intensive care departments, and pledged to drastically increase government support for the essential services.
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