Park Hong-geun, Minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, announced plans to improve systems and financial support based on field feedback to ensure the successful implementation of community integrated care. The initiative aims to provide support so that citizens in need of care can continue their daily lives in their own communities by linking medical, health management, and caregiving services.
On June 17, after visiting the Smart Healthcare Center in Seongdong-gu, Park held a meeting at the Seongdong District Office with officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, local governments, related organizations, and experts to discuss challenges and improvement tasks in the operation of integrated care.
The meeting was organized to assess whether the integrated care system, which has been implemented nationwide since March of this year, is functioning smoothly and to identify issues arising from the coordination of medical, health management, and caregiving services.
During his visit to the Smart Healthcare Center, Park reviewed the status of health management, medical, and caregiving services for the elderly and people with disabilities, gathering feedback on user satisfaction and additional support needs.
"Integrated care is about supporting citizens in need of care to continue their daily lives in their communities," Park said. "It is time to explore various ways to provide customized welfare services that can offer immediate assistance when needed."
The subsequent meeting included participation from local governments, the National Health Insurance Service, caregiving service providers, and academic experts, who discussed the initial challenges faced in the field and proposed improvements. Attendees called for support to address the gap in medical and caregiving infrastructure in rural and vulnerable areas, as well as the need for expanded dedicated personnel and infrastructure budgets, and ongoing financial support from the central government.
They also suggested long-term improvements, including expanding caregiving finances, clarifying roles between central and local governments, strengthening the role of social solidarity economies, and increasing the participation of caregiving workers.
Park emphasized, "We will spare no effort to ensure the successful implementation of the integrated care system, which has just taken its first steps nationwide this year. Based on the voices raised today, we will establish key support directions for 2027 and closely explore improvement measures for the overall operation of the system in collaboration with relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Welfare."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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