“During a March 1 study session for officials, the provincial party committee discussed implementing the Central Committee’s directive to modernize its general hospital. The meeting addressed practical steps needed for the modernization,” a source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently.
According to the source, the provincial party committee provided officials with detailed explanations of Kim’s directives given during his on-the-spot guidance at the Pyongyang General Hospital. The committee identified priorities for renovation: expanding the surgery department and pharmacy, and upgrading outdated medical equipment.
Based on an on-site inspection, the provincial party committee listed the surgery department’s shortcomings and stressed that despite inadequacies, officials must bring it up to par with the modernized model surgery at the Pyongyang General Hospital.
The committee also emphasized that expanding the hospital’s pharmacy was critical for promoting domestic pharmaceutical production.
“The provincial committee stated that acquiring construction materials and medical equipment was the most crucial aspect of modernizing the hospital, and this was discussed during the officials’ study session. Some officials expressed concerns that the province couldn’t accomplish this alone and suggested seeking support from the Central Committee,” the source said.
“In conversations after the session, officials questioned whether they could realistically complete the hospital upgrades, which was the most urgent of more than ten key missions they’d been assigned since January,” the source added.
The provincial party committee also emphasized improving the quality of doctors at the province’s general hospital as another Central Committee priority.
In connection with this, the provincial party committee shared directives from the Central Committee and Ministry of Public Health requiring hospitals to hold mandatory clinical practicums twice yearly, technical level tests for doctors three times yearly, and annual reviews for academic degrees and positions.
These orders drew criticism from officials concerned that doctors would be “so slammed they won’t be able to focus on treating their patients.”
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on Feb. 28 that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had toured the newly completed Pyongyang General Hospital.
“After establishing the Pyongyang General Hospital as an exemplary medical facility, Chairman Kim Jong Un stated that advancing public health is a critical revolutionary project for defending, preserving and developing the essential features and superiority of North Korea’s people-oriented socialism. Kim also presented initiatives ensuring that not only future teaching hospitals, but also ordinary hospitals being built in cities and counties nationwide need to be equipped with modern technology,” the newspaper reported.