Gyeongsangnam-do Province has begun full-scale operation of the "Gyeongsangnam-do Integrated Support Council," bringing together experts in welfare, health, medical care and housing to preemptively respond to surging care demand.
The province held the first meeting of the Gyeongsangnam-do Integrated Support Council on Tuesday at the provincial government conference room, with Park Il-woong, acting governor of Gyeongsangnam-do (administrative vice governor), and experts from the welfare, health, medical and housing sectors in attendance.
The 24-member Integrated Support Council is a public-private cooperation body launched under the Integrated Care Support Act, which took effect in March. The council handles the full scope of Gyeongnam-style integrated care policy, including the establishment and evaluation of regional plans, policy advice on integrated care, and the building of linkage and cooperation systems among institutions.
At the inaugural meeting, members broadly reviewed key tasks in the integrated care field, including the reorganization of dedicated organizations at the city, county, town and village levels, the expansion of mandatory visits to those in need of care, the creation of exemplary Gyeongnam-style neighborhood care villages, the training of integrated care specialists, and the strengthening of service quality management.
The province asked the council to further solidify cooperation systems among related institutions to strengthen its regional governance function, and to pool efforts in expanding field-centered integrated care, including operating information counters at each institution, promoting policies, identifying care recipients and linking them with integrated care counters at the town and village levels.
"The launch of this council marks an important turning point as Gyeongnam-style integrated care moves from the preparation stage to the implementation stage," acting governor Park said. "We will break down the silos between welfare, health, medical care and housing, organically connect information and resources, and build a tightly knit integrated care system so that every resident can continue to lead a healthy life where they already live."
Meanwhile, the province became the first among Korea's metropolitan local governments to establish an "Integrated Care Division," and is operating dedicated teams in 18 cities and counties within the province as well as integrated care counters in 305 towns and villages. It has secured 429 dedicated personnel to date and plans to further increase staff through additional hiring in the second half of this year.
