Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Samsung Medical faces criticism for failure to share information
By Kim Rahn
Samsung Medical Center is being criticized for allegedly failing to share information about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) infections at the hospital quickly with the central and local governments.
Some civic groups and lawmakers claim the hospital’s alleged secrecy and reluctance in dealing with the cases at an initial stage led to the spread of the virus.
They also claimed the Ministry of Health and Welfare failed to take appropriate measures against the hospital right after learning that numerous patients at the hospital were infected with the virus. So far, 37 people have been found to have contracted the virus at Samsung Medical Center.
The Korean Federation of Medical Activist Groups for Health Rights, an association of medical expert groups, claimed that the general hospital looks like a “sanctuary” that is beyond the health authorities’ control.
On Sunday, the hospital said nearly 1,000 patients and medical staffers were possibly exposed to the virus at the hospital.
“Samsung Medical Center was excluded from the government’s anti-MERS efforts for about a week,” the federation said. “In sorting out and monitoring possibly infected people, we doubt the hospital reported it to the ministry and followed government guidelines.”
The group suspected that the disease spread fast at the hospital while it was trying to solve the issue through its own measures.
“It seems that the authorities make an exception when it comes to Samsung Medical Center, as the hospital keeps saying it will do its own monitoring and take its own measures,” Choi Kyu-jin, a member of the federation, said, raising suspicions about government favors to the hospital.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Monday that the hospital was not following the city government’s request to share necessary information about MERS patients there, such as where the patients visited before being diagnosed with the disease and who they met.
Rep. Kim Yong-ik of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy claimed that the health authorities had the hospital take charge of the disease control there.
“While the hospital has monitored nearly 1,000 people for possible exposure to the virus there, the ministry has excluded that number from its statistics about people subject to isolation,” Kim said. “It seems the government attempted to conceal Samsung Medical Center had confirmed cases. Maybe that’s why the government officially disclosed the names of affected hospitals belatedly.”
Kim said that Samsung Medical Center may be able to control inpatients or medical staff who were exposed to confirmed MERS patients, but not outpatients or inpatients’ family members, and this is feared to spread the virus more widely.