National University Hospitals and Dental Hospitals Transferred to Health Ministry Oversight After 21 Years

National university hospitals and national university dental hospitals have been transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Minister of Health and Welfare Eun-kyeong Jeong made the announcement on the 20th, following the implementation of amendments to the National University Hospital Establishment Act and the National University Dental Hospital Establishment Act. The amendments took effect that day after being approved by the Cabinet on February 10 and promulgated on February 19. The transfer of oversight, which had been discussed since the Participatory Government era, was completed after 21 years.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to comprehensively strengthen the four core functions of national university hospitals—clinical care, research, education and public policy—and develop them into anchor hospitals for balanced national development under the “5 Poles, 3 Special Regions” framework. On June 15, it announced a “Comprehensive Development Plan for National University Hospitals to Strengthen Regional, Essential and Public Health Care.”

In clinical care, the hospitals will provide definitive treatment for serious diseases, including cancer, within each region and strengthen their capacity to provide definitive care for essential services, including severe and emergency cases. In research, they will be developed into regional research hubs leading studies of severe and rare, intractable diseases and innovation in medical technologies.

In education, the hospitals will strengthen their role as core educational institutions training personnel for essential regional health care. In public policy, they will strengthen their role as control towers for essential health care, coordinating linkages and collaboration among regional medical institutions. The government will gradually expand financial support to underpin these efforts.

In clinical care, the government will support the recruitment of personnel in essential departments and strengthen compensation for long-serving staff. To expand the essential health care workforce in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and thoracic surgery, among other fields, it will increase the number of full-time faculty members—the core workforce of national university hospitals—by about 460 over four years.

Moving away from uniform support, the government will select specialized fields that reflect medical needs in each “5 Poles, 3 Special Regions” area and the strengths of each national university hospital, then provide focused support. The goal is to strengthen the foundation for residents to receive necessary treatment without traveling to the Seoul metropolitan area.

In research, the government plans to secure clinical data that individual regional national university hospitals would have difficulty obtaining independently, bringing the data to the level of major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area through collaboration among all national university hospitals and the National Cancer Center. Based on this, it will support regional national university hospitals in actively participating in the research and development of novel anticancer drugs, treatments for rare and intractable diseases, and advanced treatment technologies.

Support for research and development (R&D) tailored to regional national university hospitals will also be expanded to increase core research infrastructure and specialized research personnel and promote collaborative research among industry, academia, research institutions and hospitals. In particular, the government plans to support specialized R&D linking regional strategic industries, such as biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), with hospitals’ strengths.

In education, funding for national university hospital support programs previously provided by the Ministry of Education will be transferred to the Ministry of Health and Welfare for continued support. The government plans to establish clinical education and training centers at all national university hospitals to provide medical students, residents and health care professionals with advanced, simulation-based procedural training. It will also newly establish regional physician support centers centered at national university hospitals to support regional health care personnel from education and training through career development and settlement in the region.

Clinical education and training centers have been completed at Jeju National University Hospital and Chungnam National University Hospital and are under construction at eight hospitals, including Kyungpook National University Hospital. Regional physician support centers will support the entire process, from students through residents and specialists, to help establish the regional physician system.

In public policy, the government will strengthen the personnel and capabilities of dedicated organizations responsible for cooperation systems so that national university hospitals can link medical resources within their regions and serve as control towers for essential health care, overseeing the transport and transfer of patients with severe and emergency conditions and cooperation in care. It will also strengthen National Health Insurance reimbursement for national university hospitals’ provision of regional, essential and public health care.

Institutional improvements will proceed in parallel. In consultation with relevant ministries, the government will pursue removal of the designation of national university hospitals as other public institutions so they can recruit outstanding medical personnel more flexibly and increase operational autonomy. It will also establish a management system tailored to the characteristics of the institutions to ensure public interest and accountability.

National university hospital directors will serve as co-chairs of city and provincial essential health care committees, coordinating essential health care issues in their regions and leading care-cooperation systems among medical institutions. On July 21, the Ministry of Health and Welfare established the National University Hospital Policy Division, dedicated to developing national university hospitals. The organization will comprehensively pursue financial investment and institutional improvements to establish mid- and long-term development strategies and strengthen clinical care, research, education and public policy functions.

Lee Hyeong-hun, second vice minister of health and welfare, said, “This transfer is not simply a change in the ministry responsible for managing national university hospitals. It is a new starting point for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the ministry specializing in health care, to properly develop national university hospitals as anchor hospitals for the 5 Poles, 3 Special Regions.” The government added, “We will provide responsible support so that national university hospitals can grow into hospitals that take responsibility for definitive treatment of severe and essential conditions, train outstanding medical professionals, research future medical technologies and connect regional medical institutions.”