‘Blacklist’ of emergency room doctors found amid deepening crisis at hospital ERs

The health ministry said Monday it has requested police probe into those who drew up and circulated a “blacklist” of emergency physicians opting not to join their striking colleagues, calling such acts an “inexcusable crime” and vowing a stern response.

An online post was uploaded to a website believed to be made by doctors and showed the list of doctors who currently serve at hospital emergency rooms, calling them “forced laborers” and derisively expressing gratitude for their “hard work.”

“The website that villainizes doctors serving at emergency rooms has sapped their morale. It is an unacceptable crime,” ministry official Jung Yoon-soon told a press briefing.

There has already been such a blacklist of doctors who have not joined the strike uploaded on the website, but this is a new one, the official said, adding that the list contains personal information and malicious comments about ER doctors, as well as some military doctors sent to civilian hospitals amid the staff shortage.

“We reported the case to police for investigation. We will sternly deal with such acts in cooperation with the authorities,” Jeong said.

Even a military doctor developed a social phobia upon learning that he was on the list and is having a difficult time, he added.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a parliamentary session Monday that around 30 individuals have so far been referred to the prosecution for a probe regarding blacklisting.

A majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February in protest of the government’s plan to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 seats per year over the next five years or so to address the shortage of doctors.

The collective action has caused disruptions of the national health care system, and concerns have mounted over the situation worsening further during the extended Chuseok holiday that begins on Saturday, particularly at short-staffed emergency rooms.

Several hospitals have shortened the operation hours of emergency rooms after suffering from medical staff shortages.

In response, the government on Monday began sending a total of 235 military and public doctors to ERs nationwide struggling with staffing in addition to 15 doctors deployed to five short-staffed hospitals last week.

But hospital officials and doctors have said such measures are far from enough to ease the situation, as many of them are inexperienced and it is unclear about who will shoulder legal responsibilities for possible medical malpractice.

Some of the deployed military doctors have not actually worked at emergency rooms, they added.

Doctors have called on the government to cancel its plan to raise the medical school admissions quota for 2025 and 2026, and discuss the possible quota adjustment for 2027 or afterward.

But the government has said it would not be possible to adjust the quota for next year, though it is willing to discuss the quota hike plan for 2026.

In June, the government finalized a hike of some 1,500 students for next year, and due procedures for college entrance have already begun.