Eight more hospitals added to 24-hour care network for pediatric, cerebrovascular and alcohol disorders

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday designated eight new hospitals to join its essential specialized care project, which supports around-the-clock treatment in specific medical fields to strengthen regional healthcare.

The project supports medical institutions in maintaining 24-hour care systems in designated specialty areas, even if they do not operate full emergency departments.

The government has supported a total of 29 hospitals across five fields — burns, digit reattachment, obstetrics, pediatrics and cerebrovascular care — since the project launched in July last year. The program runs through the end of 2028.

The eight newly designated institutions are divided by specialty: two in pediatrics — Gwangju Suwan Mirae Children's Hospital and Seoul Family Hospital — one in cerebrovascular care, Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul Northern Hospital, and five in alcohol addiction treatment — Dasarang Hospital, Dasarang Jungang Hospital, Aju Pyeonhan Hospital, Segwang Hospital and Mirae-ro Hospital under the Minhyeon Medical Foundation.

Alcohol treatment has been added as a new "psychiatric emergency" category. The ministry said alcohol-related problems carry a high risk of escalating into suicide attempts or violence, making round-the-clock response essential.

The newly designated hospitals must maintain 24-hour care systems in their respective specialty areas starting Wednesday.

The institutions will receive a "24-hour care support payment" to cover the cost of keeping medical staff on call, as well as performance-based payments assessed on criteria including the quality of their 24-hour care, emergency response and care coordination.

The 24-hour care support payment amounts to about 500 million won ($324,000) per institution, while the performance-based payment ranges from 600 million won to 960 million won per institution.