Director Kim Han-soo outlines 10-year blueprint for terminal care hub

Hospital Director Kim Han-soo outlined a 10-year blueprint aimed at positioning the institution as a premier terminal care hub for intractable diseases.

The hospital is revamping its physical spaces and operational systems to prioritize advanced disease treatment. This ongoing reorganization involves specialized centers for women’s cancers, urology, and blood cancers, alongside expanded emergency and critical care facilities and a newly initiated parking lot construction project intended to support the campus layout for the next decade.

Director Kim emphasized that a successful shift toward critical care requires sufficient staffing and financial stability rather than advanced facilities alone. Since taking office in 2024, Kim has prioritized upgrading these specialized hospitals and remodeling intensive care units to retain skilled medical professionals and maintain sound financial operations.

Specialized Centers Target High-Acuity Cancers and Rare Conditions

The institutional strategy groups specialized personnel by disease category to integrate consultations, diagnostics, surgeries, and inpatient care. This approach is designed to minimize the burden on patients visiting multiple departments.

The facility also houses the Lady Ward, an inpatient unit dedicated exclusively to women’s cancer care.

It utilizes a multidisciplinary collaborative system involving specialists from urology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, and pathology. Director Kim describes this setup as a quaternary urology hospital model designed for challenging cases requiring specialized treatment.

The center focuses on advanced cell therapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, supported by a cell and gene processing center opened in October.

Ward Redesign Adjusts Capacity to 667 Beds

To support the restructured clinical focus, the hospital completed a six-month remodeling project in March, overhauling the 10th through 12th floors of the main building into critical care and specialized wards. Following these adjustments, the total capacity of the hospital stands at 667 beds.

The renovation reorganized general rooms alongside intensive care units, isolation rooms, and sterile treatment units. The hospital also adjusted the physical placement of intensive care facilities to optimize internal transit routes for emergency and critical care teams.

The 10-year redevelopment framework will continue with upcoming annex construction projects and further enhancements to emergency care infrastructure as the institution transitions fully into a designated heavy-disease treatment center.