Hospital offers free treatment for multicultural families
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Heo Seong-joo, director of the Seoul National University Dental Hospital
By Jun Ji-hye
Heo Seong-joo, director of the Seoul National University Dental Hospital, has received a presidential citation for his hospital’s free clinics for multicultural families.
The hospital was recognized for contributing to helping multicultural families better settle down here.
Beginning with Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, in 2010, the hospital has been visiting all over the nation nine times a year and operating free medical centers.
The hospital has operated the free clinics a total of 57 times so far and has treated over 7,000 patients for free.
The awards ceremony took place Monday at a hotel in Daegu during a gathering of members of multicultural families nationwide.
“We began the free clinics to help multicultural families live in Korea with stability,” Heo told reporters. “This award means a great deal to me and to the entire staff of the hospital who have fulfilled their responsibilities.”
Heo, who became the director of the hospital on July 29, received the award on the behalf of the hospital, but Heo himself was also deeply moved because it was him who designed the project for the free treatment in 2010. At the time he was in charge of a planning and cooperation office at the hospital. He then supervised the project until 2013.
“The Seoul National University Dental Hospital has offered free treatment to the vulnerable such as the disabled and senior citizens who live alone, but there was no program for members of multicultural families,” he told reporters. “So, I began the project after consultation with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.”
He added that he also asked Lina Korea, a local life insurance unit of U.S. insurer Cigna, for help.
About 20 members of the medical staff have been participating in the project. They stay in Seoul and its surrounding areas for a day, and stay for three days when they go to rural areas.
Heo said the program usually takes place over the weekends, which requires sacrifice from the staff, but they volunteer to go. He also noted that the free clinics offer most dental treatments such as extraction of a tooth and periodontal treatment.
He stressed that there is no need for those from multicultural families to be discriminated against only because they are not fluent in Korean and look different.
“All citizens should make the effort to be good neighbors to them,” he said.