Mayor Kim Bora Pledges to Continue the Spirit of the Nursing Bag from 33 Years Ago Through Integrated Care

Mayor Kim Bora Introduces 'Center Opening' via Social Media
First 'KNA Anseong Customized Home Nursing Center' Opens in Korea
Direct Operation by Korean Nurses Association; Partnership with Local Medical Community
Five Nurses Visit Homes, S

"A great deal of time has passed between the bag I carried 33 years ago and the bag I handed to a nurse just yesterday. However, the spirit inside remains the same."

Bora Kim, Mayor of Anseong, Gyeonggi Province (seventh from the left), is cutting the commemorative tape with attendees at the opening ceremony of the "KNA Anseong Customized Home Nursing Center" held on the 8th. Screenshot from Mayor Bora Kim's Facebook page

Bora Kim, Mayor of Anseong City in Gyeonggi Province, recalled the time she first came to Anseong in 1993 to establish a medical cooperative as she introduced the "KNA Anseong Customized Home Nursing Center," which opened on September 8, 2026.

Through social media, Mayor Kim said, "When I handed the nursing bag to a nurse at the opening ceremony, memories from 33 years ago came flooding back. Back then, home nursing or visiting nursing was not institutionalized, and laws or policies on 'integrated care' did not exist. Still, we visited patients’ homes, believing that medical professionals should go where people in need are."

She continued, "Seeing how that small act from decades ago has, after 33 years, evolved into new institutions and policies and is now being relaunched in Anseong fills me with emotion. While the new sign and the attendees' smiles were heartening, the scene that lingered most in my mind was, after all, the nursing bag itself."

The KNA Anseong Customized Home Nursing Center is a core project of the integrated care service that Anseong City has been working on since March 2026. It was established in collaboration with the Korean Nurses Association and is the nation’s first home nursing center operated directly by the association.

Bora Kim, Mayor of Anseong. Provided by Anseong City.

The five nurses stationed at the center regularly visit the homes of seniors and people with disabilities who have difficulty visiting hospitals or medical institutions. They check health conditions, provide essential nursing care, treat wounds and pressure ulcers, offer medication guidance, and deliver chronic disease management education. They also support oral care services such as gum massages and denture maintenance.

The city has signed business agreements with local medical, traditional medicine, and dental associations to establish a unified system offering not only nursing services but also doctor home visits, oral health management, and connections to local medical and welfare resources.

Eligible recipients include those with a recognized long-term care grade, those who exceed the monthly long-term care limit, and integrated community care participants for whom doctors determine home nursing is necessary. Services are customized individually according to each person's health and care needs.

A professional nurse visits each recipient's home at least twice a month. Depending on their health condition, a doctor's home visit can also be arranged once a month, and each person may use the service for up to six months.

Bora Kim, Mayor of Anseong (right). Photo taken from Bora Kim, Mayor of Anseong's Facebook homepage.

The cost for long-term care visiting nursing is covered through claims filed by the center to the National Health Insurance Service under the long-term care benefits system. For integrated care recipients who are not eligible under this system, Anseong City fully covers the service costs.

Mayor Kim described the role of the home nursing center as "care that says, 'We will come to where you live,' instead of, 'Come to the hospital if you are sick.'"

She added, "Allowing people to live where they are most comfortable, among familiar faces and with the care they need, is the spirit embodied in both the nursing bag from 33 years ago and the one used today. The five nurses will carry that spirit into citizens’ homes."

She emphasized, "We will continue to work so that integrated care in Anseong can firmly take root in citizens' daily lives."

Screenshot of Bora Kim, Mayor of Anseong's Facebook homepage

Meanwhile, Anseong City plans to link the home nursing center to an integrated care system centered on the public health center and further expand cooperation with local medical organizations. The city is also working to strengthen the home healthcare foundation so that discharged patients, seniors with mobility challenges, and others can continue to live in their homes and communities without relying on facilities or hospitals.

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