Gov’t, ruling party agree on financial support to encourage 8,000 hospitals to open during Chuseok holiday

The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) agreed Thursday on financial assistance measures designed to encourage about 8,000 hospitals and neighborhood clinics to accept patients during the upcoming Chuseok holiday amid a prolonged doctors' walkout. The two sides made the agreement during a meeting of government officials and PPP lawmakers at the National Assembly amid concerns about emergency medical care services during the five-day holiday due to the walkout by junior doctors, according to Kim Sang-hoon, the PPP's top policymaker. The government and the PPP also agreed to speed up their push for a special act aimed at helping doctors ease their liability for medical accidents. A majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February in protest of the government's decision to sharply raise the medical school admissions quota, prompting major hospitals to cut back on surgeries and other treatments. The prolonged strike has raised concerns about potential disruptions in medica l services during the upcoming Chuseok holiday, which runs from Sept. 14-18. During the meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also urged the medical community to join a four-way consultative body among the government, ruling and opposition parties, and doctors' group to seek a breakthrough in the protracted strikes. Source: Yonhap News Agency