The South Korean government will allocate 74.2 billion won ($52 million) to regional hub medical institutions, including national university hospitals, to enable treatment of severe illnesses outside the capital region.
The plan includes expanding intensive care units and treatment facilities for pediatric patients and high-risk pregnant women, while introducing advanced cancer treatment equipment currently concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area to provincial regions.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Thursday it has decided to provide the funding to strengthen critical and complex care capabilities at regional hub medical institutions. These institutions are designated primarily as national university hospitals across 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, serving as central hospitals responsible for essential high-complexity medical care and coordinating cooperation among regional medical facilities.
The government has been pursuing facility and equipment support programs for regional hub medical institutions since last year, aiming to establish a "regionally complete medical system" where patients can receive final treatment locally. This year's support focuses on expanding infrastructure for intensive care and severe disease treatment.
Hospitals including Pusan National University Hospital, Kangwon National University Hospital, and Jeonbuk National University Hospital will receive support to expand ICUs, enabling critical patients to receive treatment within the golden hour. Kyungpook National University Hospital and Jeju National University Hospital will establish intensive care units for high-risk pregnant women, while Chungbuk National University Hospital will receive support to expand its pediatric emergency medical center and pediatric ICU.
Efforts to strengthen complex surgical capabilities are also underway. Chonnam National University Hospital will receive robotic surgical systems, while Chungnam National University Hospital will establish a hybrid surgical system enabling simultaneous real-time patient monitoring and surgery.
Notably, Chilgok Kyungpook National University Hospital will receive support to introduce proton therapy equipment. Proton therapy is an advanced radiation treatment method that precisely destroys cancer cells using proton particles, and is considered to reduce damage to normal tissue and enhance treatment effectiveness compared to conventional X-ray radiation therapy. Currently, this equipment is installed only at select hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area.
The government plans to accelerate project implementation by streamlining administrative procedures including local fiscal investment reviews, and will select additional support recipients through a second round of applications starting this month.
"This support goes beyond simple equipment provision—it is meaningful in establishing a foundation where critical and complex treatments can be completed locally," said Lee Jung-kyu, Director General for Public Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. "We will continue strengthening the capabilities of regional hub medical institutions so that local residents can receive treatment with confidence in their own communities."