Park Eun-mi, Democratic Party Yangpyeong County Mayor Candidate, Says "Yangpyeong Needs Laws That Match Its Healthcare Reality"

[Suwon Ilbo=Eom In-yong Reporter] Park Eun-mi, the Democratic Party's Yangpyeong County Mayor candidate, said on the 29th that "healthcare policy must be resolved through law and budget, not slogans, and through cooperation with central government healthcare policy lines."

Park said, "The 'Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act' is fundamentally a law designed to guarantee rehabilitation treatment for victims of automobile accidents based on automobile insurance funds," and explained that "it is not easy to amend the law or actually implement projects by mechanically inserting emergency medical functions into a law centered on rehabilitation treatment."

She continued, "There are separate laws suited to Yangpyeong's healthcare reality," and stated that "the 'Public Health and Medical Care Act' and the 'Local Essential Medical Care Special Act' scheduled to take effect in March next year are exactly those."

Park particularly emphasized that "ahead of the implementation of the Local Essential Medical Care Special Act, special accounting for local essential medical care of approximately 1.1 trillion won will be established starting January next year," and stressed that "the key now is the question of who will bring these funds to Yangpyeong."

Park said she has appointed Professor Kim Rok-ho, a former WHO director and Yonsei University School of Medicine professor, as a special healthcare advisor to accomplish this.

She also explained that she held close consultations with Congressman Kim Yun, the chief sponsor of the Local Essential Medical Care Special Act, regarding plans to establish a comprehensive emergency room and general hospital at the National Transportation Rehabilitation Hospital site.

Park also presented specific implementation plans.

Park said, "The National Transportation Rehabilitation Hospital currently possesses approximately 27,000 pyeong of land, and with a building coverage ratio of only about 12 percent, there is ample room to additionally install general hospital-level medical facilities on the excess land."

Citing Article 10 of the 'Public Health and Medical Care Act' as grounds, she explained, "The state and local governments, when they deem it necessary for the establishment and operation of public health and medical care institutions, may lend national or public property free of charge or allow its use and profit, notwithstanding the 'National Property Act' or 'Act on Management of Public Property and Goods.'"

She continued, "This is an important legal basis for Yangpyeong to promote the establishment of public medical institutions without bearing land costs," and criticized, "Despite having clear laws that fit Yangpyeong's circumstances, wasting time on irrelevant laws has resulted only in prolonging the medical suffering of county residents."

Furthermore, she said, "If people in Yangpyeong fall ill, they should receive treatment in Yangpyeong," and stated, "We need a county mayor who accurately understands the law, brings in budgets, and can cooperate with healthcare policy power lines. Strong Yangpyeong, strong county mayor Park Eun-mi will definitely change Yangpyeong's healthcare reality."