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| The Imperial Palace Seoul's medical center is located on the third floor, which is connected to an outdoor area resembling a traditional garden where recovering patients can rest. / Courtesy of the Imperial Palace Seoul |
By Kim Se-jeong
The words "hotel" and "hospital" have the same root word: "host," which in turn, comes from the Latin word "hospes," meaning "guest."
One hotel that remembers its roots is the Imperial Palace Seoul.
Since 2009, the hotel ― located in the Garosu-gil area within the city's upscale Gangnam District ― has been the site of a medical center that includes a dental clinic, a dermatology clinic, an aesthetic center and a stem cell clinic.
The majority of patients are Koreans, who are drawn to the center by three things: service, privacy and convenience.
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| The dental clinic at the Imperial Palace Seoul's medical center has garnered positive reviews from local patients for privacy, convenience and excellent service. / Korea Times photos by Kim Se-jeong |
"It's in a hotel, so I feel the service is different," K. Choi, a patient at the dental clinic, told The Korea Times. "In an ordinary clinic, I feel nervous when machines go off with a loud noise. Here I do not have to worry about it. Each room is separate. I have a better sense of privacy. Also, the clinic is a one-stop shop, which is good for busy patients like myself."
Kim Young-hoon, the dentist who owns the clinic, says the location and the hotel's good name help his business. He says his patients are satisfied with the service.
"Since I moved here, I do not have to worry about parking space for patients," said Kim. "At the old location near Gangnam station, I did not have enough parking, and consequently I lost many potential patients. Also, being close to accommodations enables me to perform operations on those who need immediate care."
Meanwhile, hotels are encouraging patients to stay there after their treatments. The Imperial Palace Seoul offers discounts on rooms and other facilities.
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| A corridor inside the Imperial Palace Seoul displays advertisements for the on-site dermatology clinic. |
The Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, offers an "anti-aging package" that includes a discounted one- or two-night stay at the hotel as well as treatment at the anti-aging clinic inside the hotel.
The Ritz-Carlton in Seoul houses the May Clinic, which has one dermatology clinic and two plastic surgery clinics.
While local patients make up a majority of their clientele, these hotel medical clinics are now targeting foreign tourists.
The number of tourists who visit Korea to get medical treatment is on the rise, prompting hoteliers to partner with hospitals and clinics.
Last year alone, 211,218 people visited Korea to obtain medical treatment, a 32.5-percent jump from the previous year. Chinese patients made up most of that number with 56,075, followed by American and Russian patients with 32,750 and 24,026, respectively. Plastic surgery was the most popular form of treatment.
On Tuesday, the government showed its support for medical tourism by allowing medical centers to operate hotels, and is getting ready to launch a medical tourism website.
The stem cell clinic at Imperial Palace Seoul has a success story.
Currently, foreign patients account for 35 percent of its clientele, up significantly from only 20 percent earlier this year. The clinic has brochures written in Chinese and has hired a Chinese interpreter to better serve Chinese patients, who account for a significant portion of its foreign clientele.
Anti-aging treatments using stem cells are the most popular services at the clinic, and patients who have received such treatments stay three days and two nights on average at the hotel. The clinic staff say the proximity of the clinic to the rooms is an important selling point.
There are two common forms of partnership between hotels and hospitals or clinics. One involves a hotel hosting a clinic on its property, as in the case of the Imperial Palace Seoul, while the other involves a hotel partnering with a nearby clinic as in the case of the Lotte Hotel.
The Lotte Hotel's medical partners, the Samsung Medical Center and Korea University Hospital, are located off- site but send their patients to the hotel, where they benefit from discounted rooms and an interpretation service.
The Plaza has similar partnerships with local plastic surgery clinics.
The Grand Hyatt Incheon accommodates patients from the Inha International Medical Center, operated by Inha University's medical school and located near Incheon International Airport. Both the hotel and Inha University are owned by Korean Air.
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