The Ministry of Health and Welfare will promote a plan to relax the criteria for designating specialized hospitals in obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics to strengthen essential medical care.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Welfare announced that it plans to issue an administrative notice of some revisions to the "Notice on Designation of Specialized Hospitals," which includes obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics and adolescents in the relaxation of the criteria for designation of specialized hospitals, and plans to collect opinions by the end of this month.

The Ministry of Welfare designates small and medium-sized hospitals that provide specialized medical services as specialty hospitals.

A medical institution designated as a specialty hospital may use the name "specialty hospital" and advertise using the terms "specialty hospital" and "specialty".

In addition, health insurance costs are also supported in consideration of cost investment and operational performance for the designation of specialized hospitals.

The current notification relaxes the number of medical personnel by 30% among the designated criteria for "areas other than special cities, metropolitan cities, Suwon cities, Seongnam cities, Bucheon cities, Goyang cities, and Yongin cities" and for resin bonding, alcohol, and burns, and the revised notification includes obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics and adolescents among the relaxation of these standards.

If the notification is revised, the standard for the number of specialists will be reduced from 8 to 5 for obstetrics and gynecology and from 6 to 4 for pediatrics.

The Ministry of Welfare has revised the notification with the intention of supporting the field of delivery and pediatrics, which are essential medical care.

(Photo = Office of the President's Press Photojournalist, Yonhap News Agency)