Despite Bed Supply Regulations, Seoul Metropolitan University Hospitals Rush to Add 4,300 Branch Beds

Branch Hospitals Proliferate in New Towns
Big 5 Hospitals Alone to Add 2,400 Beds
"Movement of Regional Medical Personnel Expected to Accelerate"

As the government implements a hospital bed supply management plan in the Seoul metropolitan area to curb an oversupply of beds, university hospitals are increasingly establishing branch campuses. Recently, Korea University Medical Center has been solidifying plans to build its fourth hospital in Dongtan, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, reflecting a continued trend of expanding medical infrastructure centered on major hospitals.

According to the hospital sector on March 11, Korea University Medical Center has begun in earnest the construction of its "Fourth Korea University Hospital" with approximately 700 beds in the Bongdam-eup area of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The target opening year is 2035. The hospital is planned as a complex medical campus that will include a convalescent rehabilitation hospital, senior welfare housing, and residential facilities.

Recently, there has been a surge in the establishment of university hospital branches, especially in new towns within the Seoul metropolitan area. Seoul National University Hospital is building Siheung Baegot Seoul National University Hospital in the Baegot District of Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, with 800 beds and a target opening year of 2029. In Incheon’s Cheongna International City, Asan Medical Center is working to open Asan Medical Center Cheongna, a general hospital with 800 beds, also targeted for 2029. Severance Hospital is planning to open Songdo Severance Hospital, another 800-bed facility, in Songdo, Incheon, in 2029. In Gimpo, Inha University Hospital is pursuing plans for a university hospital with about 700 beds, while Hanyang University Hospital is considering establishing a branch with about 500 beds in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

Medical infrastructure expansion projects are also underway at the national level. Bundang Seoul National University Hospital has been designated as a specialized infectious disease hospital for the metropolitan area and is planning to build a facility with 348 beds.

If all currently planned or considered branch projects proceed, the number of new university hospital beds in the Seoul metropolitan area will reach approximately 4,300. Among these, three branches of the "Big 5" hospitals alone will provide 2,400 beds within five years.

To prevent an oversupply of beds, the government implemented a bed supply management plan last year and made it mandatory for new medical institutions to undergo review by the local government’s Medical Institution Establishment Committee. However, the bed supply management plan still classifies some regions as areas where additional beds can be supplied, so the expansion of university hospitals is expected to continue for the time being.

Accordingly, there are concerns that the concentration of medical resources—including medical personnel and beds—in the Seoul metropolitan area will intensify further. According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the number of authorized beds at medical institutions nationwide increased from 703,468 in 2019 to 724,212 in 2022, but then declined and stagnated at 704,388 beds as of 2024. Nevertheless, beds in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province still account for about one-third of the national total, indicating that the concentration in the metropolitan area continues.

Some in the medical community argue that university hospital branches are inevitable to fill gaps in medical care in new towns. An official from a tertiary general hospital explained, "Even in the metropolitan area, new towns on the outskirts often lack large medical institutions, so general hospitals end up being solely responsible for emergency care in many cases. In regions where population growth outpaces the expansion of medical infrastructure, there is a constant demand for the establishment of large hospitals."

There are also growing concerns that the expansion of metropolitan area university hospital branches could accelerate the outflow of medical personnel from regional hospitals. A professor at a national university hospital outside Seoul said, "After the controversy over increasing medical school quotas, there have been many instances where university hospital professors moved from regional tertiary hospitals to metropolitan university hospitals, and from university hospitals in Gyeonggi Province to even larger hospitals in Seoul. If more new university hospitals open in the metropolitan area, it is highly likely that professors currently working in regional hospitals will move even more actively."

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