Minister Commends 36 Regions for Advancing Regional Healthcare
Seoul,South Korea – The Ministry of Health today recognized 36 local governments and individuals for outstanding contributions to regional healthcare planning and implementation,awarding citations across three categories: excellence in local government initiatives,notable year-over-year improvements in power generation,and collaborative efforts in healthcare development.The awards underscore a national push to improve healthcare accessibility and quality tailored to specific regional needs.
This year’s awards notably introduced a new “development” category to specifically acknowledge those instrumental in establishing thorough regional healthcare plans – a four-year cycle mandated by the Regional Health Act to address localized health demands and resource allocation. These plans, encompassing analyses of regional health status and strategies for resource management, are seen as crucial for bolstering public health infrastructure nationwide.
Among the regions honored for excellence were Busan Metropolitan City and Gyeongsangnam-do, alongside 30 additional cities and counties. The “development” category recognized the Chungcheongbuk-do Office, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Nam-gu Public Health Center, Jeollanam-do Sinan-gun Public Health Center, and Chungcheongbuk-do Chungju-si health Center.Four individuals from Busan Gangseo-gu and yeonje-gu Public Health Centers, and also the Gyeongnam Public Health Support Team (recommended by Busan Metropolitan City and Gyeongsangnam-do), received awards in the “cooperation” category.
The citations were weighted as follows: 32 points for outstanding local governments, 32 points for excellent local governments, 4 points for power generation improvements, and 4 points for cooperative division contributions.
“Thank you for the hard work of local governments who have been trying to protect the health and lives of local residents,” stated Kwak Soon-heon, Director of Health Policy. “I would like to ask for a lot of interest and support so that local governments’ efforts to support the enhancement of health care system, establishment of health and safety prospects, and to support the central policy direction can be well included in the local health care plan.”