Photo : YONHAP News
The government has called on the medical community to take part in a new committee to assess the severity of the health care worker shortage, saying health professionals will make up more than half its membership.
Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday during a health care reform briefing that the government needs to determine the nation’s medical personnel needs so it can make essential health care services accessible in all regions of the country, and to meet the rapidly increasing demand as the population ages.
Cho said the government will establish the new body to assess the need for health care workers and receive advice from the medical community, then refer a final decision to the Health and Medical Care Deliberation Committee, the highest-level decision-making body on health care policy.
He added that the new body will include doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and practitioners of traditional Eastern medicine.
Responding to the government’s invitation to take part in the new body, the Korean Medical Association said the government must first apologize and reflect on its attitude, adding that participation from the medical community is impossible unless the government reverses its decision to increase medical school admissions for next year.