Ulju Hospital to Open on September 4, Launching Full Medical Services and Building a Veteran Medical Team

[Financial News] "We are Ulju Hospital's 'Romantic Doctor Kim Sa-bu.'"
Medical care is finally beginning to reach the southern part of Ulju County in Ulsan Metropolitan City, where more than 80,000 residents live near the Saeul Nuclear Power Headquarters of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and the Onsan National Industrial Complex, yet have long lacked even a proper emergency room.
According to the medical community on the 30th, Ulju Hospital in Ulju County, Ulsan, which is set to officially open on September 4, has assembled a team of 10 veteran medical professionals and completed preparations to welcome local residents.
In a medically underserved area where there were only 0.6 doctors per 1,000 people, the physicians who have gathered there evoke the "Romantic Doctors" from the popular drama's Doldam Hospital.

■ Leaving behind the advantages of the Seoul metropolitan area and Busan to devote themselves to local public healthcare
Jung Jong-hoon, the hospital's first chief executive and a family medicine specialist, graduated from Gyeongseong Medical College and left behind a stable private practice he had run for more than 30 years in the Seoul metropolitan area to move to Ulju. Drawing on his extensive clinical experience in the capital region, he is determined to overcome the shortage of medical personnel in the provinces and build a solid public healthcare foundation in Ulju County.
Lee Si-won, head of internal medicine, was also a veteran private practitioner who had served local residents for 34 years as a clinic director in Sasang District and Dongnae in Busan. He had once dreamed of becoming a professor at a university hospital in Seoul, but settled in the Yeongnam region after becoming captivated by it during his military service. During his time at a long-term care hospital, he studied dementia day and night, and just before opening his clinic, he even volunteered to provide emergency room care. He has decided to devote the final chapter of his medical career to Ulju County, saying he will pour all of his 30 years of hospital management experience and know-how into public healthcare in a rural area.
Kim Ik-mo, head of internal medicine, also joined the team. A leading liver disease specialist in the Busan area and a former chief of internal medicine at Kosin University Gospel Hospital, he was the second Korean full member of the American Gastroenterological Association and served as the inaugural chairman of the Liver Love Network. He plans to bring Ulju patients a rapport-based style of care that has always placed trust with patients first.

■ A pastor-doctor who comforts the heart from the shadow of the operating room, and a master physician who ended long-distance dialysis trips
Song Pil-o, head of anesthesiology and pain medicine and vice president of Ulju Hospital, has an unusual background as both a doctor and a current pastor. At the request of Jung Geun, founder of the On Hospital Group, he has once again put on a white coat and is caring for patients holistically, treating not only their bodies but also their minds. During his time running a long-term care hospital, he personally washed the hair of a salivary gland cancer patient whom everyone else avoided because of the odor and bleeding, and offered a warm message: "In heaven, I want my mother to wash my hair." His story still leaves a deep impression. Song plans to move between the operating room, anesthesia and pain treatment, and the emergency room, while also easing the pain in the hearts of county residents.
The return to the Yeongnam region of Yoon Kyung-woo, a nephrology authority who graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine and served as a professor at Yeungnam University Hospital, has also drawn attention. Having served as vice president of The Korean Society of Nephrology, he will oversee the 15-bed artificial kidney unit, which will later be expanded to 20 beds. This has resolved a long-standing concern for Ulju County residents with kidney disorders and chronic renal failure, who previously had to travel to other regions for dialysis.

■ Surgical capabilities in general surgery and orthopedics greatly strengthened, enabling precise treatment locally without traveling elsewhere
The surgical treatment system in general surgery and orthopedics, which local residents needed most urgently, has been significantly strengthened, greatly reducing the inconvenience of having to travel to large hospitals in distant cities.
Kim Young-chan, a surgeon in his 40s and a former colorectal surgeon at Hanyang University Medical Center (HUMC), has emerged as a hope for essential medical care in the provinces. He carefully performs laparoscopic appendectomy for appendicitis and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Using precise minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques, he aims to reduce pain and scarring and help patients return to daily life as quickly as possible. He also performs hernia repair, hemorrhoidectomy for patients suffering from anal diseases, and mass excision to precisely remove lumps that form on the skin or inside the body.
Lee Jang-seong, head of orthopedics and a former orthopedic specialist at Hanyang University Medical Center, is a strong support for elderly patients who have long suffered from joint pain. Through total hip and knee arthroplasty, which carefully replaces worn-out joints, he helps local seniors walk healthily again. He also performs arthroscopic meniscectomy using a minimally invasive approach, open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) for emergency patients with fractures caused by sudden falls or accidents, Achilles tendon reconstruction to restore ankle tendons, and debridement to clean infected tissue in wounds and promote early recovery. In this way, he will take charge of treating orthopedic conditions in the region.
In addition, a total of nine specialists have joined forces to protect the health of Ulju County residents, including Kwon Oh-yeong, head of the radiology center and a graduate of the School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, and Jang In-il, who completed his internship at Gyeongsang National University Hospital and has worked on the front lines as a public health center director and local emergency room chief.
Ahead of the hospital's September 4 opening, Jung Jong-hoon, the hospital director, said, "Medical staff with their own connections and stories have come together to fulfill the mission of public healthcare that was most needed by underserved local residents." He added, "We will become a warm hospital that heals both body and mind and serve as a reliable pillar for the community." He also said the hospital plans to operate a 24-hour emergency room by October at the latest.
Ulju Hospital, the public medical institution in Ulju County, is equipped with an operating room, recovery room, a 24-hour emergency room, and essential specialized treatment facilities such as a physical therapy room, clinical laboratory, radiology room and pharmacy. It also has advanced diagnostic equipment, including MRI and CT scanners, to support comprehensive local care.
Meanwhile, Ulju County Mayor Lee Soon-geol and On Hospital, led by Director Kim Dong-hun, signed the "Ulju County Hospital management contract" on August 13, 2024. Under a private consignment arrangement, On Hospital will fully operate Ulju Hospital for five years, from this year through December 31, 2030. 
[email protected] Byun Ok-hwan Reporter