News & Announcements
Title Establishes Joint Response System for Infectious Diseases in Cooperation with Seoul City & Samaritan’s Purse Korea
Hospital KU Medicine
Date 2022-01-28
Read 1340
Establishes Joint Response System
for Infectious Diseases in Cooperation
with Seoul City & Samaritan’s Purse Korea
Korea University Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan
Government (Mayor, Se-Hoon Oh), and Samarian’s Purse Korea (CEO, Christopher
James Weeks) signed an agreement to cooperate to overcome the infectious
disease crisis.
Held at the Korea University Mediscience Park, the
signing ceremony was attended by representatives of each institution, including
President Young-Hoon Kim, Mayor Oh Se-Hoon, and CEO Christopher James Weeks.
Under the agreement, the three parties will
join forces to establish a joint response plan to combat the infectious disease
crisis, to support experts who can respond at times of crises, to secure the
appropriate labor force and equipment based on the joint plan, and to share
strategies for infectious disease prevention and management. The three parties plan
to take various crisis response measures, such as installing emergency module
hospitals and deploying healthcare staff in response to the recent surge in positive
Omicron cases.
Young-Hoon Kim, President of KU Medicine, said,
"I am happy to establish a partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan
Government and Samaritan’s Purse, an international organization, during these difficult
times. I think the emergency module hospitals, which will be further discussed among
us, can become a game changer at a time when the existing medical system is overburdened.
As a medical institution with social responsibility, we will do our best to help
our society overcome this pandemic.”
Mayor Oh said, "This partnership is of
great significance in that it is the first attempt to preemptively respond to
the crisis in collaboration with the private sector. The emergency module hospitals
to be built through the cooperation of Korea University Medicine, Samaritan’s
Purse, and Seoul Metropolitan Government will be a great hope for medical staff
and citizens who have struggled during this difficult time.”
CEO Christopher James Weeks said, "Samaritan’s
Purse has been engaged in various medical activities in developing countries
and disaster sites over the past decades. Based on the know-how and experience
we have acquired, we will establish a meaningful cooperation system with the
Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea University Medicine.”
Meanwhile, the Korea University Medicine has made strenuous efforts to help
overcome the pandemic. It sent its medical staff to Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeonggi
Provinces. It has been operating the SK Hynix Icheon Campus Screening Clinic
and Anam Residential Treatment Center. It also donated COVID-19 diagnostic
devices and protective clothing to Madagascar and Malawi.



