Last year, 89 pediatric clinics closed nationwide. Among all clinic specialties, the closure rate was the highest.
According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service's "Status of openings and closures of medical institutions" on the 23rd, there were 5,353 new openings and 3,885 closures of medical institutions nationwide last year. Medical institutions include hospitals and clinics, dental hospitals and clinics, pharmacies, Korean medicine hospitals, Korean medicine clinics, and public health centers.
Among these, looking only at clinics, the so-called "neighborhood hospitals," there were 1,840 new openings and 1,011 closures. On the surface, it appears to have increased, but a look by specialty shows a different picture.
Pediatrics saw only 59 new openings, while closures reached 89. The ratio of closures to new openings was 150.8%. It is effectively "negative growth."
Anesthesiology and pain medicine had 76 new openings and 58 closures, for a closure rate of 76.3%, while obstetrics and gynecology had 46 new openings and 35 closures, at 76.1%. Surgery (73.5%) and urology (70.6%) were also high. Critics say specialties considered essential care are reaching the limits of "holding on."
By contrast, rehabilitation medicine and dermatology were relatively stable. The specialty with the lowest closure rate relative to new openings was neurology (12.9%), followed by rehabilitation medicine (33.3%), psychiatry (35.1%), dermatology (41.9%), and orthopedics (42.1%).
Regional gaps were also clear. Last year, new medical institutions numbered 1,613 in Seoul, 1,374 in Gyeonggi, and 299 in Incheon, with 61% of the total concentrated in Seoul and the capital area. Medical infrastructure is likewise becoming more concentrated in the capital region.
Gyeonggi had 892 closures of medical institutions, with closures at 64.9% of new openings, the lowest nationwide. Seoul (67.9%) and Incheon (68.9%) were also relatively low.
In contrast, the situation was the exact opposite in the provinces. North Jeolla had 124 closures of medical institutions, more than the 123 new openings, with a closure rate of 100.8%, the highest nationwide. Gangwon had 96 new openings and 94 closures, at 97.9%, and North Chungcheong had 112 new openings and 101 closures, at 90.2%.