"The love that the citizens of Gangneung and the residents of the Yeongdong region have for Gangneung Asan Medical Center is special. In the midst of the crisis of local healthcare, we found a way to protect and develop this precious hospital."
At the end of 2021, when a renowned doctor, known as the 'best knife master' in the colorectal field at the largest hospital in the country, was suddenly appointed as the president of a local hospital, the medical community was abuzz. Some patients were left in shock. The news that this doctor had recently succeeded in a third term quietly appeared in the sympathy columns of various newspapers. It was recognition for stabilizing the shaky pillars of the hospital over four years and presenting a survival model for local hospitals.
Yoo Chang-sik, the 64-year-old president of Gangneung Asan Medical Center, has presented a model for the survival of local hospitals by overcoming the pain of having to close the cardiac emergency room just a year after his appointment due to a mass exodus of doctors, and by navigating the crisis where all the residents in 'internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics' left due to 'conflicts with the medical community'.
-It has already been four years since you came to Gangneung. It must have been surprising to be appointed as the head of a hospital where mostly retired doctors served as presidents at the peak of your surgical career…
"In the fall of 2021, Park Seong-wook, the president of Asan Medical Center, called me and asked, 'Professor Yoo, I need you to go to Gangneung as the hospital president. It won't interfere with patient care, right?' I had previously mentioned to my wife during a trip to Gangneung that it would be nice to come to this hospital after retirement, but it was a proposal that left me speechless. When I asked President Park, 'Can't I stabilize the surgical system before I go?' he replied, 'Gangneung is more urgent.' Since I had set up a system where seven junior and student doctors could perform surgeries, I felt confident that it would be okay for me to leave. The problem was with the Crohn's disease patients who frequently relapsed; some of them held my hand and cried. Still, I packed my bags, trusting the medical center's judgment."
-What was it like when you first took office? The hospital looked beautiful like a hotel in the forest…
"Gangneung Asan Medical Center is a wonderful hospital with inpatient wards that offer an 'ocean view' overlooking the East Sea and a 'mountain view' of Daegwallyeong. It has clean buildings and facilities, as well as state-of-the-art equipment. Above all, I quickly realized that the local residents regard it as a sanctuary and have absolute trust in it."
Gangneung Asan Medical Center was established by the Asan Foundation, which was founded with the personal funds of the late Chung Ju-yung, honorary chairman of the Hyundai Group, with the intention of "helping the most disadvantaged neighbors in our society." After realizing the need for a general hospital while providing medical services to rural areas, it opened following Seoul Asan Medical Center. Chairman Chung wanted to prioritize the spirit of service over the business of the Hyundai Group or his own honor, so he requested that the names Asan or Hyundai not be included, which is why the first name of Seoul Asan Medical Center was Seoul Central Hospital, and this hospital's first name was Gangneung Hospital.
Chairman Chung is known to have a special love for his hometown of Gangwon-do, even naming the hospital after his pen name, Asan (峨山), which is derived from his hometown of Tongcheon-gun, Songjeon-myeon, located an hour's drive from the hospital. The residents here regard the hospital created by their 'hometown hero' as their own, and some even pray in front of Chairman Chung's portrait in the third-floor lobby.
-President Yoo is remembered as the one who created the multidisciplinary collaboration system at the Seoul Asan Medical Center and spread it throughout the medical community as the head of the cancer hospital. He persuaded the Ministry of Health and Welfare to recognize the fees for multidisciplinary treatment… It seems he could have brought such achievements to Gangneung Asan Medical Center as well….
"When I first came, I wanted to make it a 'hospital that performs surgeries well' like Seoul Asan Medical Center. Before my appointment, I anticipated the internal limitations of a local hospital, but most of those concerns were unfounded. The working capabilities of the hospital staff were excellent, and the multidisciplinary collaboration system was already functioning well. The hardware, including robotic surgery equipment, was on par with most university hospitals in Seoul. The waiting time for patients was short; surgeries that required a one-month wait in Seoul could be done here in just one week."
President Yoo stated, "However, the problem lay not with our hospital but with the healthcare system in South Korea," adding, "In the larger trend of local hospitals collapsing, establishing a foundation for the hospital's survival was a task, and keeping specialists from leaving was an immediate challenge."
"You may not feel it in the metropolitan area, but private university hospitals in the regions are on the brink of collapse. Young doctors, exhausted from COVID-19, began to leave, and conflicts with the medical community have ignited the situation, causing metropolitan hospitals to absorb professors from local hospitals like a vacuum cleaner."
At Gangneung Asan Medical Center, four out of six cardiology fellows left one after another, leading to a situation where two could not provide 24-hour care. In January 2023, the first year of his term, President Yoo had no choice but to make the decision to close the cardiac emergency room on holidays and at night. The entire region was in an uproar, and there was widespread discontent. The trust in the hospital was on the verge of collapse.
President Yoo had to acknowledge the reality coldly. Recognizing that he could not hold onto doctors whose hearts had left with mere sense of duty, he saw a distant solution. The problem was in the implementation. President Yoo first sent an SOS to Gangneung City. He persuaded them that "spending local welfare budgets on the hospital is the best welfare."
The city was concerned, saying, "We want to help immediately, but the justification for budget expenditure is weak." President Yoo consulted with the city and knocked on the door of the Gangwon Provincial Office. He requested a meeting with Governor Kim Jin-tae to explain the urgent situation and seek provincial support. A task force (TF) was formed, led by the Vice Governor of Gangwon Province. The province provided 20%, while the nine cities and counties sending patients to Gangneung Asan Medical Center combined to provide 80% of the specialist support funds. The hospital contacted cardiologists from across the country to recruit one or two at a time, and finally reopened the cardiac emergency room in November 2024. The media in Gangwon Province reported this with joy as if it were their own news.
Gangneung Asan Medical Center will also receive 800 million won annually from the local government for pediatrics, allowing it to operate a 24-hour pediatric care system starting next year.
President Yoo stated, "This kind of 'proactive model for securing essential medical personnel' is something that other regions can learn from" and added, "Securing public healthcare and essential medical services can be addressed through budget allocations that reflect local characteristics."
In addition, Gangneung Asan Medical Center has been making efforts to recruit senior doctors. The hospital has persuaded them with △the wonderful living environment in Gangneung △respect that does not feel lacking △the hospital's excellent medical environment, successfully recruiting experts such as Kim Young-hwi (pediatrics), a renowned pediatric cardiologist from Seoul Asan Medical Center, Kim Jong-seong (neurology), an authority in the field of stroke, Lee Seong-gu (gastroenterology), an expert in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), Noh Seong-woo (neurosurgery), an authority in spinal surgery, and Professor Kim Gi-soo (pediatrics), an authority in neonatal care. They are also scouting for talent from other hospitals in the country and abroad. In September 2022, they recruited Dr. Choi Young-bin, who was active as a stroke specialist in the United States and Canada, to enhance the stroke intensive care unit, and received a grade A in the stroke adequacy evaluation from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in July of last year.
"Currently, Gangneung Asan Medical Center not only takes care of the health of residents from Gangwon's Goseong-gun to North Gyeongsang's Uljin-gun, but also receives patients from the metropolitan area and abroad in some departments. Although it reports an annual deficit of 10 to 20 billion won, I believe it plays a role that cannot be measured in monetary terms. If the government or local governments can fill the gaps in essential medical services for the lives and health of residents, the advantages can be maximized."
Gangneung Asan Medical Center will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year. It is reaching the age of 'standing firm and not shaking', as Confucius said, which is the age of maturity (而立). President Yoo is using every hour of the day to ensure that the hospital can surpass the large hospitals in the metropolitan area in cancer treatment competitiveness without shaking any longer. In my view, this seems entirely possible based on the cooperative foundation between the local government and the hospital.
I wanted to share the voice of an acquaintance I met while visiting Gangneung for an interview with President Yoo. He confidently said, "If the late Chairman Chung Ju-yung were to see it from heaven, wouldn't he be most proud of Gangneung Asan Medical Center, which is struggling for the lives and health of the people of his hometown?"
