The city of Incheon has launched an ‘integrated medical safety net’ that spans both child abuse response in the childcare field and welfare for care workers. As the Saessak Jikimi (Child Protection) Hospital of Incheon Medical Center and five local Korean-medicine institutions newly join the effort, a community cooperation system linking care and medical services is going into full operation.
 [코리안투데이] Signing of the business agreement between Incheon and medical institutions for childcare © 장형임 기자 |
The Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Chan-dae) announced that on July 24, in order to improve the quality of childcare services and create a field-centered, secure care ecosystem, its Metropolitan Childcare Support Center (Director Kim Su-jin) is carrying out business agreements with the Saessak Jikimi Hospital of Incheon Medical Center and five local Korean-medicine institutions.
The core of this agreement lies in strengthening the capacity to respond to crisis situations that may arise in the care field. It was pursued along two axes: providing rapid medical consultation and treatment referral when child abuse is suspected, and at the same time reinforcing health management and medical welfare support for care workers. Given that, until now, even when signs of abuse were detected in the care field, it was not uncommon for professional medical judgment and immediate treatment to be delayed, this safety net is regarded as a mechanism to fill the gaps in child protection.
Since the 20th, the Metropolitan Childcare Support Center has been sequentially signing agreements with five local Korean-medicine institutions, including 365 Songdo Kyunghee Korean Medicine Clinic, St. Peter’s Korean Medicine Hospital, Incheon Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital, Chiyu Korean Medicine Hospital, and Haeoreum Korean Medicine Hospital. Through this, a ‘care council’ comprising a total of nine medical institutions, including existing participating institutions, will be established.
The benefits of the agreement translate directly into the daily lives of care workers. Workers at the metropolitan center and the nine district and county centers, along with childcare providers and their accompanying immediate family members, can receive practical medical benefits such as flu vaccinations, preferential health checkups, and reductions in non-covered treatment costs upon presenting proof such as an employee ID card. This carries the significance of laying a minimum foundation for care workers, who have kept the field going despite poor working conditions, to look after their own health.
Subsequently, on the 24th, the agreement with the Saessak Jikimi Hospital of Incheon Medical Center, a medical institution dedicated to child abuse cases, was finalized. Using this as a springboard, the city is putting into full operation a protection system that provides one-stop support—from the discovery of victimized children to physical and emotional treatment and follow-up care—when signs of suspected abuse are found in the care field.
Incheon has thus far operated an integrated care management system encompassing users, care workers, and service-providing institutions, centered on the Metropolitan Childcare Support Center. It has strengthened the foundation for health management through a support council involving medical and counseling institutions, and has worked to create a secure care environment by continuing child abuse prevention education and field-centered capacity-building programs. This agreement is a measure that extends that flow further into the medical field.
Kim Kyung-sun, Director-General of the city’s Women and Family Bureau, said, ‘This integrated medical safety net will not only protect at-risk children more swiftly and professionally, but also serve as a foundation that supports the health and welfare of the childcare workers who devote themselves in the field.’ She added, ‘Going forward, we will do our utmost to create a tightly woven care environment for which the public sector takes responsibility, and to bring about happy changes in the care field that citizens can truly feel.’
지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화
THE KOREAN TODAY × WIA CODE
이 기사의 WIA Code
WIA Code 스캐너로 비추면 인터넷 없이 발행 사실과 위·변조 여부를 확인할 수 있습니다.
휴대폰 기본 카메라로 찍으면 스캐너 안내 페이지가 열립니다 — 기사 바로 열기
움직이는 코드는 스트림입니다 — WIA Code 스캐너로 약 25초 비추면 기사 전문(사진 포함)이 폰에 저장되어 인터넷 없이도 읽을 수 있습니다.
WIA Code · 코리안투데이
Leave a Reply