Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (center) tours the urgent care clinic in Yangcheon-gu, Sunday, observing medical operations and facilities. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
Seoul City announced Monday that it has launched two urgent care clinics and four specialized clinics to address the challenges patients requiring urgent care for non-severe conditions face during nights and holidays.
The centers are expected to alleviate patients' challenges accessing medical care after a prolonged standoff between the government and trainee doctors, according to city officials.
The two urgent care clinics, one in Yangcheon-gu and the other one in Songpa-gu, are to treat non-critical conditions that frequently lead to emergency room visits, such as injury, abdominal pain, cough, fever and vomiting.
Meanwhile, specialized clinics opened in four districts -- Gangseo, Mapo, Gwangjin and Gangdong -- will primarily treat injury patients.
If symptoms do not improve after initial emergency care or if patients are diagnosed as critical, they will be transferred to nearby higher-level medical facilities, according to the city government.
"We plan to increase the number of these centers and broaden the specialized clinics to cover fields like ophthalmology and obstetrics," the city government said.
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