Kim Hyun-bin began his journalism career at Arirang TV from 2012 to 2017, specializing in defense, foreign affairs and the economy. In 2018, he joined The Korea Times, covering society and business, and is currently responsible for embassy affairs.
Jeju revokes license of country's 1st for-profit hospital
Aerial photo of the Greenland International Medical Center on Jeju Island. It would have been the country's first for-profit hospital. / Courtesy of the Greenland International Medical Center
By Kim Hyun-bin
By Kim Hyun-bin
Jeju provincial government has revoked the business license of what would have been the country's first for-profit hospital, as it failed to meet the deadline to launch operations “without clear reasons.”
The revocation follows public hearings held last month after Greenland International Medical Center, invested in by the Shanghai-based Greenland Group, missed the deadline for opening and filed a lawsuit against the local government's ban on providing medical services to Korean patients.
“The regional government decided to revoke the approval of the medical center after reviewing the results of a public hearing over the issue,” Won Hee-ryong, governor of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Government, said during a press conference Wednesday.
“Without proper cause, the hospital neither opened within the three months since its license was approved, the period designated by the Medical Services Act, nor did it take practical efforts to open,” he said.
The Jeju government granted the license on Dec. 5 on condition that the hospital provided medical services only to foreign patients. Under the law, the hospital was obliged to open 90 days after gaining approval ― March 4. As it failed to do so, the regional government held a hearing March 26 as the first step in the process of license cancellation.
As to the causes of failing to meet the deadline, the hospital said the approval had been delayed for 15 months from the initially expected time, and it had to file the lawsuit after the approval.
But experts at the hearing concluded the causes were not enough to explain the failed opening, Won said.
“In its initial business proposal, the Greenland Group planned to focus on treating foreign patients and treatment of local patients was not a key factor in its operation. But the group filed the administrative suit because of this and is not opening the hospital, and we don't see this as a reasonable cause for missing the deadline,” Won said.
The operator also failed to explain why a large number of medical staff had left, and did not provide documents to prove it had hired enough personnel for operations, he added.
“Since the approval on Dec. 5, we suggested talks numerous times but the group refused and only requested an extension of the deadline. We regarded this as the operator making little effort to open the facility.”
On Dec. 5, the for-profit medical center received approval from the Jeju government but its service was limited to foreign patients only, which the governor said was a "Maginot Line" to protect the nation's public healthcare system.
The hospital said the ban on offering treatment to Korean patients was illegal, and filed the suit on Feb. 14 to get the local government to cancel it.
On Feb 26, it also requested an extension of the March 4 deadline, but this was rejected by the local government.
Initially, the hospital had hired 134 employees as of August 2017 when it first applied for a license. But the approval was delayed for more than a year and all nine doctors resigned along with other staff.
The hospital is expected to file a compensation suit against the local government for its losses, separate from the current administrative lawsuit.