Chosun University Hospital Appoints New Director

Interview introduction and compilation by Eden Jones with translation by the GIC Staff
Photographs courtesy of Chosun University Hospital

On January 24, 2018, Dr. Bae Hak-yeon, an endocrinology professor at Chosun University, was appointed as the new director of Chosun University Hospital. The hospital has not only been a long-time supporter of the Gwangju News but has also been a great asset to the community in many ways. Therefore, we thought it would be pertinent for us to use this opportunity to introduce the hospital’s new director and share with the community a little more about Chosun University Hospital and how it is serving Gwangju’s community.

Gwangju News (GN): Thank you, Dr. Bae Hak-yeon, for agreeing to our interview for the March edition of the Gwangju News. How do you feel after your recent inauguration?
Although I deem it an honor to be inaugurated as the 22nd director of the hospital, it makes me realize that I also have a heavy responsibility to develop it into a more trusted national hospital, and this will be possible only through genuine change and innovation. Chosun University Hospital will make certain it provides patient-centered medical services that give our patients the care they need for healthy lives and careers.

GN: Could you tell us about any future operational plans for the hospital?
For the last two years, we have obtained good results in many different spheres, such as opening three outpatient clinics, being selected as the leading hospital in the country for regional infectious disease, being the first in the Honam area to introduce IBM Watson for Oncology, opening the Artificial Intelligence Cancer Center, and being selected three years in a row as a superior general hospital.

Recently, the healthcare world has been facing a lot of challenges. These important issues include the need to enhance health insurance protection, the Special Act on Medical Residents, improvement of ethical problems within hospitals, and infection control following the death of four newborn babies at Ewha Woman’s University Medical Center. We at Chosun University Hospital are trying to turn ourselves into the best local, private hospital and are striving to come up with a development strategy to safeguard against the new dangers of the times, such as those mentioned above.

We hope the key to doing this is by ensuring internal stability. Our staff’s job satisfaction will be increased based on trust, which can be developed through consideration of our staff’s opinions and by implementing their suggestions as much as we can.

Based on this internal trust, we will implement change and innovation, which will then, hopefully, lead to efficient patient care. In particular, we will try to improve management of patients in the emergency room and their length of stay, improve inefficient clinics and customs, and also utilize a combined medical system among departments in order to minimize inconveniences patients experience.

Outwardly, we will also strengthen the combined medical system with other hospitals. Having cooperated closely with 200 partner hospitals throughout the country, we are aware that there are still more areas in which to improve. Medical institutions must be connected organically with each other in the current medical system. We should improve any current inefficient patient transportation so that institutions feel safe transporting patients from hospital to hospital at any time.

GN: What do you think are the strengths of Chosun University Hospital, and what is necessary for it to compete with other university hospitals throughout the country?
Owing to the development of transportation, including KTX trains, the time and distance between regional areas and the capital is shrinking, which eventually results in less need for a local university hospital.

To compete with hospitals in larger cities, Chosun University Hospital has been researching what makes these other hospitals more attractive to patients and implementing our findings at Chosun. For example, we are now offering specialized treatments at our various centers including the 24-hour Cardiovascular Center, Stroke Center, Diabetes Center, Spine Center, and as of last September, our Artificial Intelligence Cancer Center based on IBM Watson for Oncology – the first of its kind in the Honam region – which enables cancer patients to receive state-of-the-art medical services locally without having to visit the capital area. With the addition of these special centers, we can serve our patients better and minimize the inconvenience of having to travel far for medical care.

Another way we compete with hospitals in the larger cities is by incorporating “evidence-based medicine.” Using medical evidence materials to advise doctors on correct treatments will not only increase patient satisfaction but will also ease the concentration of patients in the capital by providing them locally with world-class medical treatment.

The Organ Transplant Center at Chosun University Hospital is also one of our great strengths. This center has been the first in the Chungcheong and Honam regions to succeed in developing invasive kidney transplantation, kidney transplant, simultaneous kidney and liver transplants with different blood types, and pediatric brain-death patient kidney transplants.

In addition, our Outpatient Treatment Center, which was completed last February, provides our patients with more pleasant and quality medical services. Furthermore, our Nursing Care Integrated Service and National Negative Pressure Ward that protect the hospital from the dangers of infection (particularly since the MERS crisis) are turning the hospital into a reliable place that patients can trust once again.

GN: It is particularly intriguing that Chosun University has been working on community give-back activities for many patients left in medical blind spots. Are there any special future plans for these programs?
Chosun University Hospital organized a medical service corps in 2014 that has progressed in voluntary work since then. Regularly, we visit places in need of medical service and assist in both domestic locations and abroad. Furthermore, we discover and assist patients in need of emergency surgery, showing our spirit of sharing.

We also strive to assist the large number of foreigners residing in Korea. One way we have done this is by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Foreign Human Resources Development Service in order to provide foreign workers with free medical service once a year. Since 2009, we have been enrolled as an attractive foreign patient registry institution, thereby, with Gwangju Medical Tour Support Center, actively working to attract foreign patients.

We are also striving to spread advanced medical technologies through our information exchanges and education of medical teams. This is made possible thanks to not only annual overseas medical service programs but also the MOUs with hospitals in other countries and cooperating institutions. In particular, through the Korea–Mongolia training project and the Korea–Russia training project, last year we played a role as the vanguard of Korean culture. When medical teams that have already completed the training course return to their countries, they tend to ask us to perform surgeries and act as a bridge in notification of medical skills needed.

In addition to serving the foreign community, we try to fulfill our responsibility as a community-based hospital through our sponsorship of activities such as the Beautiful Store Bazaar, covering medical expenses for patients having rare incurable diseases, and delivering rice to the underprivileged.

GN: As a medical practitioner, do you have a philosophy of life or principle you follow?
I do not have any specific philosophy of life, however, since becoming the director of the hospital, I often find myself saying, “Humble yourself.” Listening carefully to others with a reverent attitude is the first and greatest virtue that we need to maintain until completing our treatments with patients. Lastly, although we have come to be known as the best private university hospital in the community, we never settle for our current successes. There are still more roles to play as a university hospital within the realms of treatment, research, and education. We should always be faithful to the basics so that we can cultivate better abilities.

So there you have it. From our interview with the hospital’s new director, Dr. Bae Hak-yeon, it certainly seems that the hospital is doing a lot in the community and making strong strides of improvement looking toward the future. Over the years, the hospital staff has worked hard to become one of the best and most trusted state-of-the-art hospitals in the province. Perhaps the next time you are in need of medical attention, you will want pay them a visit.

Note: The interview questions and answers in this article were translated into English from their original form, which was in Korean.

The Author
Eden has been living in Korea since 2014 and enjoys reading, writing, snowboarding, and enchanting the locals with her violin when she can manage to find a spare minute away from her editing responsibilities at the Gwangju News. Eden became managing editor in September 2017.