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South Korean healthcare and community care reform

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2026-09-07 08:07 UTC → 2026-09-09 06:12 UTC · added ~~removed~~

South Korean regional authorities and national committees are working to reform the healthcare system to address a super-aging society. Local efforts in regions like Bucheon and Incheon have focused on strengthening integrated care systems that connect medical, nursing, welfare, and housing services through public-private cooperation. Building on these regional efforts, the Medical Innovation Committee has proposed a national shift from a treatment-centered model to a community-based system prioritizing disease prevention and health management. The committee recommends restructuring local public health functions so that municipal and district centers focus on strategic planning and crisis response, while local clinics provide direct services like disease prevention. To ensure access in underserved areas, the plan suggests strengthening public-private cooperation and mobile medical services. To support this transition, the committee recommended establishing an AI-based community health management platform to standardize and link information across health, medical, and care sectors. The plan also calls for a revised financial system that allocates resources based on community health needs rather than individual project performance, alongside efforts to stabilize the local healthcare workforce. However, the system faces significant labor shortages. The Korea Practical Nurse Association (KPNA) has supported legislative amendments to address these gaps, with President Kwak Ji-yeon emphasizing that success depends on utilizing existing skilled personnel, specifically calling for the “active inclusion of nursing assistants” to support medical-deficient rural regions. As the Korea Development Institute (KDI) predicts a need for 990,000 additional caregivers by 2043, private companies like Cheongyeon are attempting to bridge the gap by repurposing home-cleaning managers into trained care providers through standardized training. Recent developments in Gyeonggi Province have focused on operationalizing these links. Bundang Seoul National University Hospital recently hosted the ‘Gyeonggi Province Responsible Medical Institutions Joint Symposium’ to strengthen the connection between medical services and community care.

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