18-month-old infant with severed fingers rejected by 15 hospitals

In a troubling incident last Saturday, an 18-month-old infant who had two severed fingers was turned away by 15 hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area, including five major medical centers. The hospitals cited reasons such as the patient being "too young" or the unavailability of a doctor capable of handling the case. The ambulance carrying the bleeding child was unable to depart for nearly 40 minutes while searching for a hospital. After making 16 calls, the infant finally underwent surgery at a hospital in Songpa-gu.

This case highlights a chronic shortage of doctors in essential medical fields, particularly pediatric care. Low medical fees and financial losses from such treatments deter hospitals from providing care. Additionally, declining birth rates and heightened fears of legal disputes - sometimes resulting in compensation claims reaching billions of won - discourage doctors from specializing in pediatrics. For instance, a surgeon who performed emergency surgery on a pediatric patient last year was ordered to pay 1 billion won in compensation when the patient became disabled.

Despite the government announcing an "essential medical care package" in February to address these issues, progress has been minimal. Promised increases in medical fees for under-compensated procedures have not materialized. Only in August was it announced that fees for approximately 3,000 procedures would gradually rise by 2027. Meanwhile, tensions have escalated between the medical community and legislators over plans to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 students, leading to an exodus of residents from essential medical fields and worsening emergency care shortages.

Next year, the shortage of specialists is likely to worsen due to the sharp decline in new applicants. The number of applicants for the specialist qualification exam is expected to drop to just 566 -only one-fifth of this year’s 2,782 - following an exodus of medical residents. Essential fields such as obstetrics and gynecology are projected to suffer the most, with some specialized disciplines nearing collapse. Despite promises to "produce meaningful results and give the people a Christmas present," the ruling and opposition party council has failed to engage the opposition party, the Korean Medical Association, and residents, leaving it stalled as a "ruling party-only" council. The situation is increasingly frustrating.