Minister Jeong Eun-kyung announced on the 3rd that she plans to establish a basic health care plan that includes measures to strengthen local, essential, and public health care.
On that day, Minister Jeong held a luncheon meeting with six heads of health and medical organizations at the Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, and made this statement during her opening remarks.
This meeting was the first official encounter with the heads of health and medical organizations since Minister Jeong's appointment. Attendees included Lee Seong-kyu, president of the Korean Hospital Association, Kim Taek-woo, president of the Korean Medical Association Organization, Park Taek-geun, president of the Korean Dental Association, Yoon Seong-chan, president of the Association of Korean Medicine, Hwang Geum-seok, vice president of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, and Shin Gyeong-rim, president of the Korean Nursing Association (KNA).
Minister Jeong said, "I plan to create a specific roadmap for how to strengthen local, essential, and public health care," adding, "We will create a basic plan that synthesizes the newly reflected national tasks."
She noted, "During the process of implementing this, we will proceed with a two-track approach: one that includes a public discourse to hear citizens' opinions and the other to institutionalize it through a medical innovation committee." She added, "I will organize the committee and the agenda soon."
Minister Jeong also emphasized the importance of restoring trust between the government and the public as well as the medical community. She said, "I feel regret and apologize for the discomfort and anxiety experienced by the public and patients due to the lack of communication between the government and the medical community during last year's conflict over the increase in medical school admission quotas," and added, "To avoid repeating past conflicts, I will prioritize restoring trust with the public and the medical community as the top task."
On that day, the heads of organizations explained the difficulties and opinions on the ground and requested to meet regularly to hear the opinions from the field. In response, Minister Jeong said she would listen to opinions from various sectors regarding key issues and thoroughly review solutions.
Minister Jeong remarked, "To ensure that the public can confidently access essential medical services anytime and anywhere, it is likely that strengthening public health care and establishing a local complete essential medical system, as well as creating a working environment where medical staff can take pride, will be policy goals that are shared by both the government and the medical community." She urged the active participation and cooperation of health and medical organizations in the process of promoting the new government's health care policies.