Only 58 of 431 South Korean emergency facilities offer unrestricted 24-hour pediatric care

Only 58 of South Korea’s 431 emergency medical institutions, or 13.5%, can treat pediatric emergency patients around the clock with no restrictions on time, age or symptoms, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare data obtained by Jin Jin-suk, a lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party. The figures, based on July returns in which each hospital reported its own 24-hour pediatric capacity and any restrictions, were reported by Kyunghyang Shinmun, Yonhap and Newsis. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

A further 170 institutions, or 39.4%, said they could not provide 24-hour pediatric emergency care at all, while 203, or 47.1%, said such care was possible only under limits of time, age or symptom. By institution type, 119 of 232 local emergency medical institutions (51.3%), 47 of 141 regional emergency medical centers (33.3%) and 3 of 44 regional emergency medical centers (6.8%) said 24-hour pediatric emergency care was not possible. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that some institutions that answered “24-hour care available” still set time limits: 24 said they do not treat children outside set hours, conditions or days, which would raise the effective number without round-the-clock pediatric care to 194, or 45.0%. It cited Gumi Cha Hospital as saying pediatric care is impossible outside weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Eulji University Hospital in Seoul as not treating children under 24 months or those with seizure, neurological or cardiac complaints; and Ulsan Donggang Hospital as reporting difficulty with status epilepticus and airway or esophageal foreign bodies. Of the 203 partially limited institutions, it said 52 do not accept infants under 12 months and 64 find seizure patients difficult. [ 1 ]

The distribution of the 58 unrestricted institutions is uneven. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that Gangwon has 21 emergency medical institutions and North Chungcheong Province 15, but neither has a single one able to provide unrestricted 24-hour pediatric care; Sejong also has none. Twelve of the 58 are in Seoul. [ 1 ]

Staffing is also thin. Yonhap reported that only 99 of the 431 institutions, or 23.0%, have a pediatric specialist working as a dedicated emergency room doctor, leaving 332 without one. Newsis added that 156 institutions, or 36.2%, have no emergency medicine specialist able to treat pediatric emergencies. [ 2 , 3 ]

Institutions that said they could not provide 24-hour pediatric care most often cited a shortage of pediatricians, or of the backup staff needed for admission and surgery after emergency treatment. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that the gap has grown over the past year: institutions unable to provide 24-hour pediatric emergency care rose from 158 to 170, with local emergency medical institutions going from 101 to 119. It said the government has expanded support for pediatric specialty emergency centers and raised compensation for late-night pediatric care since a 2023 package to improve the pediatric medical system, but that the shortfall has not been filled. [ 1 ]

Jin said the phrase “24-hour care available” alone does not let parents judge whether an emergency room can actually treat their child. She called on the government to accurately determine availability by time, age and symptom and make that information accessible to the public, rather than simply managing the number of institutions open 24 hours. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]