Civic groups demand rights commission intervene in Ulsan hospital closure

Civic groups are urging the National Human Rights Commission to intervene in the abrupt closure of Ulsan Bangu Hospital, a psychiatric facility that has seen multiple patient deaths. A coalition of over 30 organizations, the Ulsan Bangu Hospital Closure Joint Countermeasures Committee, submitted an emergency relief request and a petition for accountability on August 11 in Seoul.

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The hospital's plan to rapidly transfer current patients to other psychiatric facilities, without confirming their wishes or needs, amounts to a continuation of long-term confinement under a new name.

The committee argues that the hospital's plan to rapidly transfer current patients to other psychiatric facilities, without confirming their wishes or needs, amounts to a continuation of long-term confinement under a new name. They are demanding immediate actions to protect the lives and safety of the remaining patients, preserve evidence, and form a joint public-private emergency response committee.

Emergency relief, as defined by the Human Rights Commission, can involve recommending temporary measures to protect individuals when there is a significant risk of ongoing human rights violations or irreparable harm. The committee has identified 182 inpatients at Bangu Hospital as victims, naming the hospital director, local health officials, and city and provincial authorities as respondents.

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The committee has identified 182 inpatients at Bangu Hospital as victims, naming the hospital director, local health officials, and city and provincial authorities as respondents.

Bangu Hospital, known as the "last resort" for patients with severe developmental disabilities, has about 100 such individuals among its 182 inpatients. The hospital decided to close urgently after another in-patient death occurred on August 2, following investigations by the Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and a police inquiry. The hospital notified the Ulju-gun Public Health Center of its plan to cease operations on September 3.

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Moving patients from one facility to another is not deinstitutionalization or community living, but the most cruel form of re-institutionalization. If the state abandons the most vulnerable and voiceless in our society, they will be confined again in places where law and common sense do not function, and their lives will be threatened.

The committee's demands include halting mass transfers, preserving evidence, and forming a civilian-led task force. They also called for adequate medical care, food, and clothing until the closure, needs assessments for independent living, individual re-evaluations of hospitalization necessity before transfers, public guardianship support for patients without relatives, and continuity of support services after transfers.

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What we fear most is that this will end quietly. After the 180 people leave, there will be no list to confirm who went where, and the evidence needed to hold those responsible accountable will disappear.