Four Out of Ten Beds Vacant at National University Hospitals... Surgeries Drop by 50,000

Average Bed Occupancy Rate at 56% Last Year... Number of Surgeries Down 25% in Two Years
Seo Mihwa: "Treatment Capacity Must Be Restored, Essential Regional Healthcare Strengthened"

Following conflicts between medical professionals and the government, national university hospitals responsible for critical, emergency, and essential medical services in local regions have seen a significant decrease in the volume of care provided. Both bed occupancy rates and the number of surgeries have failed to recover to pre-2023 levels.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Assemblywoman Seo Mihwa of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee on October 6, the average bed occupancy rate at nine national university hospitals nationwide plummeted from 73.6% in 2023 to 56.4% in 2024 and remained at 56.4% last year. This represents a 17.3 percentage-point drop over two years, meaning that more than four out of every ten beds are unoccupied.

By hospital, Chungbuk National University Hospital experienced the largest decline, with its bed occupancy rate dropping by 29.8 percentage points—from 77.2% in 2023 to 47.4% in 2025. Gyeongsang National University Hospital’s rate fell by 22.5 percentage points (from 75.4% to 52.9%), Kyungpook National University Hospital dropped by 20.4 percentage points (from 73.9% to 53.5%), Jeonnam National University Hospital by 19.3 percentage points, and Kangwon National University Hospital by 17.0 percentage points.

Even Jeju National University Hospital, which managed to maintain a bed occupancy rate above 70%, saw its rate fall from 80.7% in 2023 to 72.2% in 2024 and 72.0% in 2025. Despite national university hospitals declaring emergency management and pursuing self-rescue measures, these efforts have proven insufficient to restore the patient volume diminished after the conflict between medical professionals and the government.

The number of surgeries has also fallen dramatically. Across ten national university hospitals, including Seoul National University Hospital, the number of surgeries plunged by 33.6%, from 193,213 in 2023 to 128,231 in 2024. In 2025, the figure partially recovered to 145,810, but this was still 24.5% fewer than in 2023. As of the end of June this year, only 89,804 surgeries had been performed, indicating that normalization remains sluggish.

By hospital, Pusan National University Hospital recorded the largest decline in surgeries, falling by 37.6% from 22,417 in 2023 to 13,991 in 2025. Chungbuk National University Hospital also saw a 37.4% decrease, from 13,368 to 8,373. Kyungpook National University Hospital saw a decline of 32.6%, Jeonnam National University Hospital was down by 30.1%, and Kangwon National University Hospital fell by 27.4%.

National university hospitals serve as the core public medical institutions responsible for providing critical, emergency, and essential medical care in local regions. However, usage of hospital beds and the scale of surgeries, both of which decreased after conflicts between medical professionals and the government, have not recovered significantly even after the dispute began to subside. This has raised concerns that the essential medical capacity of regional areas may be undermined.

Particularly since August this year, as administrative responsibility for national university hospitals shifted from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the recovery of clinical capacity and the strengthening of essential local medical services are expected to become key tasks for the Ministry of Health and Welfare. In June, the Ministry had already announced a ‘Comprehensive Development Direction for National University Hospitals to Strengthen Regional, Essential, and Public Health Care,’ pledging to enhance the clinical, research, educational, and public policy functions of national university hospitals to elevate their capacity as the final point of treatment for critical and essential medicine in the regions.

Assemblywoman Seo Mihwa stated, “We must urgently restore the clinical capacity of national university hospitals, which has been diminished due to disputes between medical professionals and the government and the resulting gaps in regional healthcare.” She continued, “The Ministry of Health and Welfare should take practical steps to expand staffing and reinforce the foundations of clinical care so that national university hospitals can fully fulfill their role as the core public institutions for critical, emergency, and essential medical services in local communities.”

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