Over 100 civilians visit military hospital emergency rooms amid doctors' walkout
A civilian patient is treated at an emergency ward of the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, south of Seoul, Feb. 20. Yonhap
More than 100 civilian patients have visited military hospital emergency rooms since trainee doctors at general hospitals began a mass walkout last month in protest of the government's medical school admissions plan, the defense ministry said Monday.
Military hospitals fully opened their emergency wards to civilians on Feb. 20 as thousands of young doctors began walking off their jobs the previous day in protest of the plan to add 2,000 more medical school seats next year.
As of 6 a.m. Monday, a total of 123 civilians had visited the 12 military hospitals across the country that operate emergency departments, including the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, according to the ministry.
It said some of the patients received surgery at such hospitals, including a man in his 50s who almost lost both his feet after being injured from a fall.
The patient had been transferred to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital after being refused surgery by two general hospitals due to a lack of medical personnel, according to the ministry.
While military hospital emergency rooms accepted civilian patients even before the mass walkout, they have had difficulty in access due to civilian entry procedures. The ministry has since relaxed them to allow better access. (Yonhap)