Health Ministry Audits Hospital Firm After Repeated Patient Deaths

South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare is launching a special audit of Donghyangwon, the social welfare corporation operating the controversial Bangudae Hospital. The hospital, located in Uju-gun, Ulsan, recently decided to close urgently following repeated patient deaths, sparking significant public outcry.

The 10-day audit, scheduled from August 24 to September 4, will scrutinize Donghyangwon and its four affiliated facilities: Dongwon Rehabilitation Center, Dongyeon Nursing Home, Dongwon Vocational Rehabilitation Center, and Bangudae Hospital. These facilities primarily serve individuals with intellectual disabilities. Bangudae Hospital, a psychiatric institution, has a patient population where over half have intellectual disabilities.

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The audit aims to proactively respond to societal demands for preventing leakage of welfare funds and ensuring transparent execution through systematic on-site inspections.

Donghyangwon and its associated centers have a history of facing criticism. Allegations include nepotistic management, financial misconduct, and human rights violations. Reports have emerged of disabled individuals being sent to Bangudae Hospital, a psychiatric facility, simply for not complying with instructions.

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The Ministry of Health and Welfare's on-site investigation should not end with just a corporate audit; it should lead to targeted investigations of all psychiatric hospitals that overcrowd intellectually and developmentally disabled individuals.

The Ministry stated the audit aims to "proactively respond to societal demands for preventing leakage of welfare funds and ensuring transparent execution" through systematic on-site inspections. The audit team will consist of three officials from the Ministry, one from Busan Metropolitan City, and one from Busan's Gangseo District, as Donghyangwon's corporate headquarters are located there. The scope of the investigation covers the past five years, from 2021 to 2026, focusing on facility upgrades, public finance and accounting management, and the distribution of livelihood benefits.

An official from the Ministry described the audit as "special" and initiated due to citizen complaints and tips. While the audit plan was established in May, predating the hospital's closure decision, the official acknowledged its relevance. Representative Seo Mi-hwa of the Democratic Party urged that the Ministry's investigation should extend beyond just the corporation to include targeted inspections of psychiatric hospitals that overcrowd patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She stressed the need for a patient-centered approach, involving re-evaluation of admission necessity and support for community integration, rather than a mere administrative convenience of transferring patients after closure.

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What is needed now is not a convenient administrative response where the public health center rushes to transfer patients because the hospital says it will close. Even if the procedures are difficult, we must start by prioritizing patients who have been exposed to the risk of human rights violations for a long time, and by supporting their integration into the community through re-evaluation of the necessity of admission and linkage of welfare, housing, and care services.