South Korean Hospital Strike Enters Seventh Day

Text of report in English by South Korean newspaper Chungang Ilbo website on 15 July

[Park Yoo-mi JoongAng Ilbo [soejungjoongang.co.kr] : “Hospital Strike Enters Seventh Day”]

The human cost of the strike by Yonsei University Health System’s administrative staff and nurses can be counted in the uncertainty faced by child cancer patients and their parents as the strike enters its seventh day today.

The management and the union began a negotiating session last night, after holding one earlier in the day, hoping to reach a deal on wage hikes and union rules to end the system’s first walkout in almost 20 years. Another session is scheduled today.

Yesterday 10 patients remained on a ward for child cancer patients at Yonsei University’s Severance Hospital in western Seoul. The ward can handle up to 21 patients. The hospital stopped receiving new patients after the strike began.

Two out of the usual four nurses were working yesterday. “There was no special order from the union, but it makes me feel uneasy to keep working,” said a nurse who refused to be named.

As nutritionists walked out, food was served in disposable dishes. Parents were worried about whether they were properly sterilized.

“I am so worried about sanitation. And the children cannot get a simple test on time. Their condition might get worse,” said Ko Mi- ae, 45, whose eight-year-old daughter is being treated for a brain tumour.

Leukemia patients, who need daily blood tests to manage their condition, have been taking the test every other day. It takes five hours to get the result now, instead of the one hour under normal operations.

“I am concerned about whether my 11-year-old daughter’s planned bone marrow transplant surgery next month will go on schedule,” said Han Jun-seok, 48.

“My son’s admission was delayed due to the strike,” said Kim Jeong-rim, the mother of a nine-year-old.

“We are in a difficult condition due to lack of staff,” said Nam Goong-ki, a public relations official at the hospital.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.