코로나19 확진자 치료 위해 220개 병상 내놓은 평택 박애병원<br /><br />Amid the spike in virus cases, hospitals in South Korea have been struggling with bed shortages.<br />It's leading private hospitals like this one in the greater capital area to empty out its beds to provide exclusive care for Covid-19 patients.<br />Han Seong-woo has this report.<br />South Korea's medical system is in the middle of a crisis.<br />With more and more people getting infected with COVID-19, the number of critically ill patients is rising... and the government is struggling to secure enough hospital beds.<br />Civic groups, including the Korean Federation of Trade Unions, are demanding the government does all it can to persuade private hospitals to provide medical assistance as well as beds.<br />One hospital in the capital region is volunteering to help out.<br />"Bagae Hospital in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do Province has decided to empty all of its 220 beds in the following days to care exclusively for incoming COVID-19 patients."<br />The Central Disaster Management Headquarters will help move those who are currently hospitalized to separate health care facilities.<br />Having also treated COVID-19 patients in Daegu during the nation's first mass outbreak, hospital director Kim Byung-geun now operates a screening center.<br />The physician says he feels a sense of duty to help those who need it the most.<br />Bagae Hospital is an exception though as others are hesitant to do the same...<br />putting pressure on the government to come up with incentives to encourage more participation.<br />According to local health authorities on Monday, over 90 percent of some seven hundred hospital beds designated for COVID-19 patients in Gyeonggi-do Province were occupied... with only one bed left for the critically ill.<br />Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.<br />
