Number of deaths at emergency rooms falls despite doctors’ walkout: gov’t

The number of deaths at hospital emergency rooms declined during the first seven months of this year as fewer patients with mild cases visited ERs for treatment amid the prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, the health ministry said Wednesday.

A total of 27,176 people died while receiving treatments at emergency care centers during the January-July period, down 3.4 percent from the previous year’s 28,123, ministry official Jung Yoon-soon said in a press briefing.

The decline was due to the fall in the total number of patients visiting hospital ERs this year, as a majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February in protest of the government’s plan to drastically increase the medical school admissions quota.

“Thanks to the cooperation of the people, fewer patients with mild cases have visited emergency rooms,” Jung said.

South Korea has experienced disruptions to the medical services due to the walkout, with hospitals having been forced to cut back on surgeries, outpatient treatment services, and emergency room operations.

According to the data released by the main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yoon, the number of patients visiting hospital ERs fell 17 percent to 3.43 million from February through July.

In an effort to ensure emergency care services during and around the five-day Chuseok holiday that begins on Saturday, the government designated Sept. 11-25 as a special period and set up an emergency task force that will be in charge of managing the situation of emergency medical centers across the country.

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has vowed to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 seats per year over the next five years or so to address a shortage of doctors, and it finalized a hike of some 1,500 students for next year.

But doctors demand the government cancel the quota hike plan for next year and 2026 and have talks about the possible adjustment of the medical school seats for 2027 and afterward.

They claim that medical schools will not be able to handle the increased enrollment, which will compromise the quality of medical education and ultimately the country’s medical services.