Governor Kim Jintae: "Public Healthcare Is the Last Bastion Protecting Residents' Health"

Governor Kim Jintae Holds Meeting with Health and Medical Workers' Union
Gangwon Province Pushes for Establishment of 'Labor-Government Consultative Body'
Strengthening Dialogue on Public Healthcare Issues such as Wages and Personnel Costs

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Kim Jintae) held a dialogue session with the Gangwon Regional Headquarters of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union (Head Ham Junsik) in the conference room of Gangneung Medical Center on the 13th.

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Kim Jintae) held a meeting on the 13th at the Gangneung Medical Center meeting room to engage in dialogue with the Gangwon Regional Headquarters of the National Health and Medical Industry Labor Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (Head Ham Junsik). Provided by Gangwon Province.

This meeting was organized to share pending issues arising in the course of operating the medical centers and to listen to difficulties encountered in the provision of public healthcare, while at the same time strengthening the system of cooperation and communication among the province, the medical centers, and the union.

The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, to which the unions of five medical centers in the province belong, is an organization consisting of 11 regional headquarters nationwide, 224 branches, and approximately 85,500 members. Among these, the Gangwon Regional Headquarters has 18 branches with about 4,300 members, and around 1,030 members are affiliated with five branches at the medical centers in the province.

Governor Kim Jintae stated, "Having gone to the National Assembly myself and even staging a sit-in protest after shaving my head, I can understand how desperate you must have felt," adding, "Since the head of the regional headquarters has said he will speak candidly, I hope to fully hear the voices from the field through today's meeting."

He went on to say, "There is a lot of talk about deficits related to the medical centers, but simply turning them into the black unconditionally is not the only solution," and emphasized, "The five major medical centers are not institutions operated for profit; they serve as the last bastion supporting insufficient public healthcare."

He also said, "Over the past four years, the province has injected a total of 230 billion won to support the operation of the medical centers and has provided more than 50 billion won in funding every year, but we are fully aware that there are still difficulties on the ground," adding, "After the Lunar New Year holidays, we are considering preparing visible improvement measures and drawing up a joint agreement, similar to a labor-management negotiation."

At the meeting, the head of the Gangwon Regional Headquarters proposed resolving overdue wages at the five medical centers, guaranteeing personnel expenses for emergency room doctors at the five medical centers, guaranteeing personnel expenses for rehabilitation medicine doctors at Gangwon Rehabilitation Hospital, accepting the decisions of the Central Labor Relations Commission, and establishing a sustainable labor-government consultative body.

Chairman Ham Junsik said, "I agree with the idea of forming a consultative body similar to a labor-management agreement after the Lunar New Year holidays," and added, "To ensure that these discussions do not end as a one-off event but continue on an ongoing basis, it is necessary to establish a labor-government consultative body."

He also stressed, "The union is essentially the voice from the field, and we must continue to talk and communicate with the union," adding, "Labor and management should not look in different directions but move together toward the common goal of safeguarding the medical centers and protecting the health of provincial residents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.