Paik Medical to Open Hospital in Afghanistan

Paik Medical Center, a leading local medical institution, said Friday it will open a hospital in Afghanistan next week to provide medical care for local residents in the war-ravaged nation.

A total of 23 medical staff members, including five doctors and eight nurses, has already been dispatched. Park Soek-san, a urology specialist at Paik Hospital in Seoul, was named head of the hospital near Bagram Airbase in Kabul.

The hospital will focus on treating infectious diseases and the injured while running public health projects to improve local medical conditions. It expects to treat an estimated 200 patients per day.

The hospital plans to hold a ceremony Monday to officially open the Bagram hospital, which is expected to be attended by some 300 related officials from South Korea, the United States and Afghanistan.