S. Korean gov't orders 358 doctors at emergency rooms, intensive care units to return to work
Arirang News
2020-08-27
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정부, 응급실 등 휴진 전공의 358명에 개별 업무개시명령서 발부
Doctors continued their nationwide strike for the second day here in the nation even as the government sent back-to-work orders individually to 358 striking doctors at ERs and ICUs at nearly two dozen general hospitals in the greater Seoul area.
Still, it's who blinks first between the trainee doctors and the government.
Jang Tae-hyun reports.
The doctors' strike has caused large medical centers to cancel scores of operations, leading the government to impose sanctions against doctors who left their posts unauthorized.
"We have issued a return-to-work order to three-hundred-58 residents at 20 emergency rooms and intensive care units that we investigated on Wednesday."
The government ordered doctors at emergency rooms to be back at work within an hour of the investigation and those at intensive care units to be back before 9 AM on Friday.
But many of the residents on leave have turned off their phones.
The current legislation punishes those who violate the order with up to three years in prison or over 25-thousand U.S. dollars in fines,... or even a cancellation or suspension of their medical license.
President Moon at a meeting on Thursday said it's irresponsible for doctors to leave the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"During wartime situations, soldiers on vacation come back to the military and grab a gun. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, medical staff leaving the medical field is the same as soldiers leaving the battlefield during wartime."
But despite the escalating situation, the president of the Korean Medical Association says there's a solution to this disagreement.
"Treating medical professionals with respect is the fundamental way to position healthcare workers in the medically underdeveloped areas and special fields that the government is talking about."
Residents at major university hospitals showed their intention to resign in protest against the government's return-to-work order.
But the actual number of doctors who have submitted resignations hasn't been confirmed.
Jang Tae-hyun, Arirang News.
Doctors continued their nationwide strike for the second day here in the nation even as the government sent back-to-work orders individually to 358 striking doctors at ERs and ICUs at nearly two dozen general hospitals in the greater Seoul area.
Still, it's who blinks first between the trainee doctors and the government.
Jang Tae-hyun reports.
The doctors' strike has caused large medical centers to cancel scores of operations, leading the government to impose sanctions against doctors who left their posts unauthorized.
"We have issued a return-to-work order to three-hundred-58 residents at 20 emergency rooms and intensive care units that we investigated on Wednesday."
The government ordered doctors at emergency rooms to be back at work within an hour of the investigation and those at intensive care units to be back before 9 AM on Friday.
But many of the residents on leave have turned off their phones.
The current legislation punishes those who violate the order with up to three years in prison or over 25-thousand U.S. dollars in fines,... or even a cancellation or suspension of their medical license.
President Moon at a meeting on Thursday said it's irresponsible for doctors to leave the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"During wartime situations, soldiers on vacation come back to the military and grab a gun. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, medical staff leaving the medical field is the same as soldiers leaving the battlefield during wartime."
But despite the escalating situation, the president of the Korean Medical Association says there's a solution to this disagreement.
"Treating medical professionals with respect is the fundamental way to position healthcare workers in the medically underdeveloped areas and special fields that the government is talking about."
Residents at major university hospitals showed their intention to resign in protest against the government's return-to-work order.
But the actual number of doctors who have submitted resignations hasn't been confirmed.
Jang Tae-hyun, Arirang News.
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