Unionized medical workers demanding better working conditions and increased support for public medical institutions continued their general strike for the second day Friday, causing considerable patient inconvenience and operational disruptions at many hospitals across the country.
About 45,000 nurses, caregivers and other members of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union (KHMU), who are from 140 medical institutions nationwide, participated in the general strike on the day, union officials said.
KHMU members at 20 upper-level general hospitals across the country, including Korea University's Anam and Guro hospitals, Kyunghee University Hospital, Hanyang University Hospital and Pusan National University Hospital (PNUH), were among those who walked out.
Patients continued to suffer much inconvenience due to drastically reduced operations at the strike-hit hospitals.
The PNUH, the largest medical institution in the southern port city of Busan, was managing only 150 inpatients in special wards, such as intensive care units, and 100 general ward inpatients with limited mobility after having earlier discharged about 700 general ward inpatients in preparation for the strike.
The Busan Medical Center, another major hospital in the port city, has reduced its outpatient departments by more than half from 22 to seven.
Some medical institutions in Seoul, such as Korea University Guro Hospital, have notified paramedics and emergency rescue workers that they are unable to provide emergency treatment in certain fields.
Labor and management at the strike-hit hospitals have continued to deploy essential workers for tasks directly related to patients' lives and to operate emergency response teams. In non-emergency areas, however, there were some cases where treatment appointments were canceled or surgeries were postponed.
With the two-day general strike set to end at midnight Friday, the KHMU said it was continuing discussions on whether to extend the walkout into the weekend and even next week.
"Some hospitals are willing to negotiate, but the situation is not easy because there has been no proposal from the government," a KHMU official said, adding the strike may continue next week without a "forward-looking" position from the government.
Demands put forward by the striking medical workers include the expansion of the integration of nursing and caregiving services, and the institutionalization of a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1 to 5.
But the government said it will consider issuing a return-to-work order, noting the KHMU has been making demands related to government policies even though it is not the union's negotiating partner.
Source: Yonhap News Agency