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KMID : 0857920210240010039
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Yonsei Journal of Medical History
2021 Volume.24 No. 1 p.39 ~ p.62
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Medical Relief Organizations during the Korean War : Opening and Operation of Koje Severance Hospital
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Kim Young-Soo
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Abstract
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This research aims to identify the characteristics and role of Koje Severance Hospital as a medical relief institution during the Korean War and to examine its status as a regional healthcare institution on Geoje (Koje) Island. To clarify that, this article confirms the opening process and operation of Koje Severance Hospital, a representative medical relief hospital during the Korean War. Based on the analysis of the newly collected documents, it shows the official reason the hospital was opened in Jangseungpo, Geoje Island. Severance Hospital was designated as a hospital on Geoje Island in late January 1951 to handle the United Nations Civil Assistance Corps Korea (UNCACK)’s public health affairs. The hospital was responsible for the free treatment of refugees and for UNCACK’s public health affairs, including checking the health status of refugees, checking for infectious disease prevalence, patient care and isolation of infectious diseases, clinical testing, and dissection.
This project continued even after March 1952, when the reconstruction project of Severance Hospital in Seoul began. However, the hospital’s operation deteriorated because the Ministry of Health’s subsidies and a severance fund were not paid in time. The hospital was transformed into a local medical institution and moved to a new location from 1952-1953. Because there were very few medical institutions on Geoje Island, the hospital was maintained after the Korean War ended with the armistice. As a result, the Canadian Mission took over the management of the hospital and continued its medical activities, and a general practitioner (GP) who graduated from Severance Medical College took over as the hospital director and operated it until its closing in early 1970. The hospital used the name “Severance” until it closed, which suggests that Severance Hospital’s name had a significant meaning in Geoje.
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KEYWORD
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Koje Severance Hospital, Relief Hospital, Korean War, Severance Hospital, Public Health Service, Infectious Disease, Jangseungpo, United Nations Civil Assistance Corps Korea, UNCACK
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