The South Korean government is setting up hub trauma centers so that severely injured patients can receive specialized care in time even when hospitals in their own region cannot treat them. Ajou University Hospital and Yonsei University Wonju Severance Christian Hospital were chosen for the program and will each receive up to 7.71 billion won ($5.4 million). Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, however, must hire essential medical staff by the end of this year.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 12th that it had given final approval to Ajou University Hospital and conditional approval to Yonsei University Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, following an open call among the country's 17 regional trauma centers for the hub trauma center support program.
Hub trauma centers are designed to provide specialized care to the most severely injured patients and those requiring complex treatment that existing regional trauma centers struggle to handle. The program aims to make up for the limited capacity of hospitals in individual regions and to minimize gaps in care for severe trauma patients.
The open call ran from July 20 to Aug. 31 this year and covered all 17 regional trauma centers nationwide. The ministry assessed the six applicants on their clinical infrastructure and treatment capabilities, then conducted a qualitative review of the feasibility of their project plans on Sept. 29. A selection review committee deliberated before the final recipients were confirmed.
Each selected institution will receive up to 7.71 billion won, including 5.46 billion won for expanding facilities and equipment and 2.25 billion won for building and operating a helicopter pad. Combined support for the two institutions totals up to 15.42 billion won.
Ajou University Hospital will move on to follow-up administrative procedures, including the disbursement of the subsidy, once it revises its project proposal.
Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, by contrast, received conditional approval that hinges on hiring more medical staff. To build an on-call system and response capacity able to accept the most severely injured patients around the clock, the hospital must revise its year-by-year staffing plan and meet this year's hiring target by Dec. 31. If it fails to do so within the deadline, the subsidy decision will be canceled and any funds already paid out must be returned.
Severe trauma patients are currently taken first to regional trauma centers under emergency patient transport guidelines set by each city and province. Regional emergency medical centers and other facilities supplement that system, but patients can still find it hard to get appropriate care within their region when complex treatment is needed or when hospitals reach capacity.
The government plans to use the selection of hub trauma centers to supplement the existing region-based trauma care system. The idea is to let patients who cannot be accommodated by hospitals in their own area receive the specialized care they need through a hub trauma center, regardless of location.
"Through this selection of hub trauma centers, we will solidify a trauma care system that takes responsibility for severe trauma cases and overcomes the capacity limits of individual regions," said Lee Joong-kyu, director general for public health policy at the ministry. "We will build a tightly woven medical safety net so that severe trauma patients can be treated in time anywhere in the country."
He added that the ministry would "closely manage and support the conditionally selected institution so that it can hire staff within the deadline and function properly as a hub trauma center."