[2026 National Assembly Audit] 8 of 9 National University Hospitals Cannot Even Calculate Essential-Care Losses: "Cost Management in the Dark"

Most say "unable to calculate" when asked for data on pediatrics, childbirth, emergency care, and other fields
Chonnam National University Hospital's intensive care units lose up to 15 billion won a year

It has emerged that many national university hospitals, which have called for increased government support on the grounds that providing essential medical care leads to losses, cannot even accurately determine how much they lose in essential medical fields.

According to data submitted by major national university hospitals across the country to Rep. So Byung-hoon of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, most hospitals were unable to separately calculate the financial balance and costs of care in the four key essential medical fields: pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and critical care medicine.

Rep. So asked each hospital to provide the annual size of its losses from medical care and the main causes. Pusan National University Hospital replied that it was difficult to separately calculate medical expenses and net income or loss by department. Kyungpook National University Hospital also said it could not calculate its cost coverage ratio or the size of its losses from medical care, and submitted only some data on medical revenue.

Gyeongsang National University Hospital said it was difficult to compile the data because it was still building a cost-management system to calculate detailed costs. Kangwon National University Hospital and Chungbuk National University Hospital likewise said their current accounting systems made it difficult to calculate costs and profits or losses by department. Chungnam National University Hospital said it could not make the calculations, while Jeonbuk National University Hospital replied that it could not calculate medical expenses or the size of losses by department. Jeju National University Hospital also said the calculations were difficult because they required supporting cost-accounting data.

By contrast, Chonnam National University Hospital calculated and submitted the financial balance of care in the four essential medical fields for the past three years. Its intensive care units recorded losses of 11.399 billion won in 2023, 15.01 billion won in 2024, and 13.253 billion won in 2025, marking losses of more than 10 billion won for three consecutive years. Over the same period, pediatrics recorded losses of 3.866 billion won, 4.305 billion won, and 4.176 billion won, while obstetrics and gynecology recorded losses of 4.541 billion won, 4.643 billion won, and 3.325 billion won. Emergency medicine posted a surplus of 2.681 billion won in 2023, but swung to losses of 1.294 billion won in 2024 and 2.398 billion won in 2025.

Chonnam National University Hospital cited personnel and material costs as the causes of its losses. In pediatrics, personnel expenses and material costs, including injectable drugs, were high relative to revenue. In obstetrics and gynecology, rising personnel and material costs were cited as factors behind the losses. In the intensive care units, personnel expenses and hygiene-related medical supplies were the main cost burdens.

Although Jeju National University Hospital said it was difficult to calculate costs for most departments, it commissioned a separate cost analysis for pediatrics. Based on the analysis, it received approximately 4.2 billion won in retrospective compensation in 2025.

Rep. So pointed out that government financial support for essential medical care and expanded reimbursement rates under public policies must begin with an accurate understanding of the actual size of hospitals’ losses. When each hospital uses a different method to calculate costs, it is difficult to make an objective assessment of which fields need support and how much they should receive.

“It is a serious dereliction of duty for national university hospitals to demand taxpayer support, saying that ‘the more essential medical care they provide, the greater their losses,’ while failing even to calculate their costs and determine how much they are actually losing,” Rep. So said. “The Ministry of Health and Welfare should require all national university hospitals to adopt a unified, standardized cost-management accounting system and directly link it to management evaluations and financial support.”

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