[Myongji Hospital] The Mecca of Treatment for Critical Foreign Patients in the COVID-19 Era
- Người lập 관리자
- Ngày lập 2021-12-27
The Mecca of Treatment for Critical Foreign Patients in the COVID-19 Era
Myongji Hospital is a designated public relief hospital equipped with negative pressure isolation room to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, the hospital effectively implemented the Dual Track Healthcare System to completely separate COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients. As the hospital provides extensive care for not only Korean patients but also foreign patients, there has been a rapid increase in the number of inquiries and visits from foreign patients.
After the outbreak of COVID-19, in July 2020, the first critical foreign patient since the government’s policy to quarantine critical foreign patients in medical institutions came into effect was hospitalized at Myongji Hospital. The liver cancer patient from Russia (Male, aged 63) was the first out of 49 (as of June 19, 2021) critical foreign patients in desperate need of treatment who came to Korea to see a doctor and receive medical care. Among these critical patients were those suffering from liver cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and colorectal cancer, or those who needed liver transplants. There were 16 patients from Russia, 17 from Mongolia, 11 from Tajikistan, 3 from Kazakhstan, and 2 from Uzbekistan. All of these patients were hospitalized, received treatment, and returned to their home country. Among these patients, 40 were hospitalized with the fast-track system or were diplomatically exempt from quarantine. As it can be seen from the numbers, many foreign patients visit Myongji Hospital to receive treatment despite the dangers posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital provides assistance services including fast-track visas for these types of foreign patients, which allows them to receive treatment without going through quarantine.
This is why Myongji Hospital was selected as part of the “Beyond the Call of Duty for the COVID-19 Recognition Program” established by the International Hospital Federation (IHF) and declared a leader in K-quarantine.
*Photograph: First patient of the COVID-19 Critical Foreign Patient Treatment, A Russian patient given hepatic embolization