Ewha University aims high on healthcare

By Chung Hyun-chae

Choi Kyung-hee, president of Ewha Womans University

The president of Ewha Womans University says the school will be turning its focus toward healthcare in the coming years.

Speaking to The Korea Times, Ewha President Choi Kyung-hee revealed her plans. “Our medical facilities, when completed in 2018, will encompass our medical campus in Mokdong and a new hospital in Magok,” she said.

“The goal is to maximize our potential by combining medicine, pharmacy, life science, nursing and public health under our medical and healthcare umbrella,” the university head said.

Choi is confident this will create synergy as Ewha already has strong medical, pharmacy and nursing colleges.

“We will invest more than 450 billion won ($410 million) in the project, the biggest investment since Ewha’s foundation,” she said.

If additional costs for medical equipment are included, the total investment could increase by 100 to 200 billion won, according to the president.

Bearing this in mind, she has asked for Ewha’s alumni association and the international foundation for Ewha Womans University to make financial contributions toward the project.

“We have about 10,000 alumni in the U.S., many of whom are doctors, nurses and pharmacists, and they responded positively to our request,” Choi said. She added that the total number of alumni is estimated to be over 200,000 people.

Ewha’s medical center in Mokdong, a dormitory town in southern Seoul, has long been considered a growth engine for the school.

Choi noted that Ewha’s founding missionary, Mary F. Scranton established the nation’s first women’s-only hospital — Boguyeogwan— in 1887.

The university operated hospitals in Sinchon and Dongdaemun in the past, and now runs a hospital in Mokdong.

The current project is part of Ewha’s long-term development blueprint to transform the school into one of the world’s top 100 universities by 2020.

The school said it will start construction work in Magok, Gangseo-gu, which is near Gimpo International Airport, in January. The site is located in the new town, which is under construction and aims to be a knowledge-based R&D hub and international business district with residential complexes.

Ewha wants to take advantage of the R&D hub, when completed, to develop biomedical technologies in cooperation with research institutes and businesses.

“We aim to have a hospital in Magok that serves as a global medical center with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities where well-trained doctors provide better healthcare services for both local and foreign patients,” Choi said.

Given that the hospital will have easy access to subway lines 5 and 9 that connect to Gimpo International Airport, the hospital is expected to have advantages in attracting foreign patients. The prospective hospital is also not far from Incheon International Airport.