(Bloomberg) -- South Korea started deploying military doctors to hospital emergency rooms Wednesday to deal with the staff shortages sparked by the seven-month-old walkout by junior doctors.
A total of 15 military doctors were sent to five hospitals, including Seoul’s Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said in a briefing. An additional 235 military doctors will be made available to medical centers across the country by next Monday.
It’s rare for South Korea to tap military doctors during times of non-medical emergency, and the government’s decision underscores the strain the healthcare system has come under since trainee doctors started their protest in February against government’s plan to boost the overall intake of students at medical schools starting next year.
“The overall emergency medical response capacity is becoming increasingly difficult,” Park said. Some emergency medical institutions are operating partially due to the departure of medical staff and increased fatigue, making the situation more difficult than usual, the minister said.
Trainee doctors have shown little signs of returning to work despite the government offering some concessions.
Ewha and the other four hospitals have already reduced operating hours of emergency rooms. While the rest of South Korea’s about 400 hospital emergency rooms are operating 24 hours a day, 27 are operating with reduced beds, according to the ministry.
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