Local cancer patients going to Seoul
A report on ‘Corrective treatment of suffering’
④ Local essential medical solution
On December 22 of last year, Gyeongsang National University Hospital Hematology and Oncology Professor Kang Jeong-hun (far left) visits the home of a lung cancer patient named Jeong Amugae (right) living in Ungyang-myeon, Geochang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Jo Yoon-sang PD jopd@hani.co.kr
Korea’s first cancer patient visiting treatment project in Geochang
“You are here.” Kang Jeong-hun, a professor at Gyeongsang National University Hospital (hematology oncology department, Gyeongnam regional cancer center research director) and health center officials entered a country house with snow on the roof. The spouse of a lung cancer patient named Jeong Amugae (72) opened the door wide and welcomed Professor Kang and his party. On December 22 last year, Professor Kang came to see Jeong, who lives in Ungyang-myeon, Geochang-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. On this day, when Professor Kang and reporters entered the house, Mr. Jeong, who was lying on the bed in the master bedroom, greeted them with a bright expression. He reached out and grabbed a pole within arm’s reach and slowly pulled himself up. Professor Kang meticulously examined Mr. Jeong, who said, “My legs and head hurt,” for close to 15 minutes. “It is not particularly a problem. I will control the pain so that it does not hurt.” Geochang-gun is a medically vulnerable area without a general hospital. Cancer patients go out for treatment. When we investigated the location of the main treatment institutions for 301 cancer patients in Geochang-gun, Daegu (42%), Seoul (38%), Busan (12%), and Gyeongnam Jinju (7%) were in order. On the day Professor Kang visited Jeong, the temperature dropped to minus 7 degrees Celsius and snow fell heavily. If Professor Kang hadn’t driven for over an hour on a sloped and winding icy road from Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, where the hospital is located, Jeong, unable to move alone, would have had to travel the same way. Jeong was taken care of by visiting medical staff for a year until he died of Corona 19 and pneumonia on the 9th. Professor Kang visited and treated Ms. Jeong as part of the nation’s first ‘Healthy Doctor System for Cancer Patients’ (regional cancer center-health center linkage project). In the Korean medical system, where visit fees are low, it is rare for cancer specialists to visit patients’ homes and treat them. However, a pilot project for over three years has been conducted in which medical staff from the Gyeongnam Regional Cancer Center and Geochang-gun Public Health Center regularly visit and manage cancer patients’ homes. Between 2019 and 2021, 301 cancer patients registered for the pilot project and received on-site treatment. Gyeongnam Regional Cancer Center medical staff visited 128 of them, and public health center medical staff visited a cumulative 1553 times. Medical staff at the cancer center also treat patients with burns if necessary. Necessary prescriptions and hospitalization after consultation are shared by Red Cross Hospital, a local public hospital. Medical staff at the public health center, the primary medical institution, public hospitals, the secondary medical institution, and cancer center medical staff, the tertiary medical institution, take care of patients as a team. “We have to continue providing medical services so that the elderly can stay at home (without being hospitalized)” (Professor Kang).
Public health center, local public hospital, cancer center, ‘one team’ patient management
“Oh, when I went to the university hospital, we couldn’t consult for even 3 minutes, so they (consulted in detail) like this… .” Even during the treatment, Jeong’s spouse repeated. After she was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, Jeong returned to her hometown after touring several hospitals. At first, she attended one of Seoul’s ‘Big 5 hospitals’ for a long time, then complications arose and she was transferred to a local university hospital in Gyeongsangbuk-do. Since then, she has been physically exhausted and recuperated at home. She said in an interview during her lifetime that she suffered greatly when she was receiving treatment in Seoul. “I can’t even climb the stairs when I go to the subway in Seoul out of breath… . Now, when I go to the professor, I feel comfortable.” Realistically, cancer center doctors cannot visit often, so continuous management of patients is mainly handled by Geochang-gun health clinics (18 locations), health branch offices (11 locations), and public health centers (1 location). It is also characterized by the fact that health clinics and health branches, which are created in medically vulnerable areas under the health center, take care of patients in close proximity. Dr. Kim Joon-hoe (Gyeongsangnam-do Public Health Medical Support Group), who researches and supports this project, said, “The directors of health clinics know how the patients in the village are doing. The role of these people is also important in the business,” she said. Lee Sang-hye, head of the Gangcheon Health Clinic, who works in her neighborhood, visited Ms. Chung almost every day to check on her pressure sores. Kim Chun-mi, head of the health promotion department at Geochang-gun Public Health Center, said, “There are many elderly people living alone among cancer patients. She also supports hygienic environmental management, dietary intake, and cleaning and bathing services,” she said. Geochang Red Cross Hospital, a secondary medical institution, communicates frequently with Professor Kang and monitors the patient’s condition. Jun Choi, director of Geochang Red Cross Hospital, said, “We administer painkillers to patients, decide whether they can stay at home or go to a tertiary hospital, and sometimes admit them to our hospital.” ” he said.
No inconvenience in patient long-distance travel and increased trust in local medical care
Professor Kang lamented the reality that cancer patients in rural areas had to go to large hospitals far from home, especially Seoul hospitals. He designed the business to alleviate the difficulties and materialized it with Geochang-gun. “A few years ago, an elderly person undergoing chemotherapy said, ‘Professor, I have to leave at 5 am and change cars three times to get to the hospital. I have a bad back, so when I get on the bus, I crawl up.” I was heartbroken. The exhaustion of patients and their families who repeatedly visit hospitals in Seoul for treatment is a great pain that cannot be described unless they have experienced it. We are the same people, but depending on where we live, the treatment environment differs too much when we are sick.” (Professor Kang) . This is because many cancer patients distrust local medical services and head to Seoul. An alternative is to allow patients to continue receiving medical consultations at home through local primary and tertiary medical institutions. Regional cancer centers may not be able to match the brand value of the ‘Big 5’ in Seoul, but they can provide cancer patients with a good option to receive appropriate treatment while avoiding the difficulties of receiving treatment in a foreign location. Kim Gwi-seon (67) was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016 and received treatment at a large hospital in Seoul, but returned to Geochang because the physical burden was too great. Mr. Kim was selected as a beneficiary of this project and is being managed at home by a public health center and regional cancer center. “When I went to Seoul to see a doctor, it was so empty. If the doctor says three or four words, it’s over. It’s nice that you come here and look at my situation regularly. I also think, ‘I came down too late.’”
information pattern (QR code) with your smartphone’s photo function.” alt=”<한겨레> You can watch the documentary ‘The big bottle goes to Seoul, the people of the hospital village’ by scanning the information pattern (QR code) with your smartphone’s photo function.” />
You can watch the documentary ‘The big bottle goes to Seoul, the people of the hospital village’ by scanning the information pattern (QR code) with your smartphone’s photo function.
Reporter Park Joon-yong juneyong@hani.co.kr
