SNUH Provides Appropriate Medical Care to Secure South Korea Medical System in COVID-19 Crisis

SEOUL, South Korea, April 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), Seoul, South Korea, treats COVID-19 patients with mild or no symptoms at an isolation facility called "Life Treatment Center." This measure came after the confirmed COVID-19 cases started to soar at the end of February in order to secure medical care for those with catastrophic illnesses and rare and intractable diseases.

SNUH has converted its training center with 100 rooms located in Mungyeong, North Kyeongsang province, into a Life Treatment Center. COVID-19 Patients who don't need to be hospitalized, are sent to this facility and monitored to prevent the spread of infection.

Medical staff at a monitoring center in Seoul, 100 miles away from the Life Treatment Center takes care of these patients. Doctors and nurses examine them twice a day through video calls. Medical data such as electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and breathing rate is acquired by vital sign monitors and transmitted in real time to the monitoring center.

This innovative model of treating mild cases of COVID-19, designed and suggested by SNUH has been welcomed and now there are more than 16 Life Treatment Centers in operation in South Korea.

"To classify patients by severity and provide appropriate medical care is the key that Korea's healthcare system hasn't collapsed even though the confirmed COVID-19 cases have reached almost 9,000," says Yon Su Kim, President and CEO of SNUH.

Seoul National University Hospital is the tertiary hospital that has been leading medical advancement of South Korea for the past 130 years. It was established in 1885 as Korea 's first and greatest hospital.

SNUH has about 7,000 employees and 1,779 beds. About 2.3 million outpatients and 600 thousand inpatients are treated at SNUH a year. It leads Korea's healthcare and contribute to global health through its follwing networks: SNU Bundang Hospital, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, SNUH Healthcare System Gangnam Center, National Traffic Injury Rehabilitation Hospital and Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital (SKSH), located in the UAE.

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