Presidential medical reform committee left incomplete amid doctors’ boycott

Doctors question committee’s direction, qualifications of chairman

A special presidential committee for medical reform created by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration to discuss policy finds itself in trouble even before its official launch on Thursday, as doctors — one of the most important stakeholders — have vowed to boycott the committee.

The committee, comprised of government officials from six ministries and 20 civilian members, including 10 recommended by doctors’ groups, was formed in order to discuss the details of the policy packages Yoon and the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Feb. 1 to improve the country’s health care system.

Through the committee, the government is seeking to find a breakthrough regarding the prolonged walkout by more than 90 percent of the country’s 13,000 trainee doctors over its plan to increase the number of medical school seats by 2,000 next year.

However, the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the country’s largest doctors’ coalition, and the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA), a group of interns and residents, are refusing to cooperate amid their ongoing protest.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo on Monday renewed calls on the KMA and junior doctors to join the committee and voice their opinions.

“The government expects various representatives to hold discussions about issues related to medical reform in order to reach rational conclusions,” Park said during a government meeting.

Nonetheless, the KMA rejected it, sticking to its original stance that the government should withdraw its medical school quota hike plan altogether and go back to square one.

“The presidential committee has no proper definition about its composition or role,” the KMA’s emergency response committee said in a statement.

Kim Taek-woo, who heads the KMA’s committee, questioned the participation of representatives of patients’ groups and civic groups in the presidential committee, saying they are not related to the medical school quota hike issue.

Park Dan, who heads the KIRA’s emergency response committee, indirectly expressed his unwillingness to participate, saying that the group is preparing to file an administrative lawsuit against the government in response to the back-towork order imposed on the trainee doctors on strike.

Doctors’ groups are also questioning the qualifications of Roh Yeonhong, chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, who has been named to head the presidential committee.

They called Roh a pro-government figure who has no actual experience in the medical field, as he used to work for the health ministry and served as the minister of food and drug safety under the 2008-13 Lee Myung-bak administration.

“We have no choice but to doubt the direction of the presidential committee as its chairman is neither a medical professor nor a scholar,” Kim Seong-geun, spokesperson for the KMA’s emergency committee, said.

Jang Sang-yoon, senior presidential secretary for social policy, expressed regret over the doctors’ boycott, Tuesday, urging doctors to “employ a forward-looking approach and change their position” before the committee is launched.

“We once again emphasize that we can engage in talks with doctors at any time once they come up with a unified measure based on scientific analysis regarding the range of the medical school quota hike,” Jang said during a media briefing.

An official from the presidential office noted on condition of anonymity that the committee will be launched as scheduled to discuss urgent issues, even if the boycott by doctors’ groups continues, saying “We cannot wait forever.”

When announcing the policy packages in February, Yoon promised to reduce the legal challenges caused due to medical accidents, establish a fairer compensation scheme for doctors for their work and revive medical services in underserved areas.

This announcement, made days before the government announced the medical school quota hike plan, was construed as appeasing doctors, who have long opposed such a policy, saying the hike will compromise medical education and training. But the efforts to persuade doctors have failed, leading to the ongoing health care standoff since then.