Aborted for-profit hospital

Bureaucrats' timidity, intervention drive away foreign investors
 

Greenland International Medical Center, estanlished on Jeju Islang as a successful example of attracting foreign investment, is in danger of collapse apart even before it starts operation.

The Jeju provincial government has set about to nullify its conditional approval of the Chinese-owned medical center for failing to open its doors by the March 4 legal deadline. The nation's first for-profit hospital is about to run aground after getting a green light just three month ago.

The cancellation has been somewhat foreseen since the province made a half-baked decision conscious of negative public opinion last December. The island administration had dragged its feet for nearly two years even after the Ministry of Health and Welfare gave it the go-ahead, caving in to the opposition of civic groups that claimed the for-profit hospital would shake the foundation of the country's public health service.

It then issued a conditional approval late last year while prohibiting it from treating Koreans. The hospital countered by filing an administrative suit in mid-February to have the controversial condition of admitting only foreign patients revoked.

The idea of a for-profit hospital traces back to 2002 when then President Kim Daejung vowed to thrn Korea into a "mecical hub of Northeast Asia," and the medical center is its first fruition. If canceled, the nation will have failed to take one step forward from nearly two decades ago. Also Worrisome is the damage suit of 80 billion won ($70 million) to be filed by the hospital. All this could pull down Korea's sovereign rating and adversely affect its efforts to attract foreign investment.

Most of all, it is regrettable the government's plan to find a new revenue source by grafting the medical industry to tourism is going up in smoke in the face of the regulatory wall. The medical center has only 47 beds, and its service is limited mainly to cosmetic surgery and other beauty-related treatment.

Civic groups' assertion is exaggerated, and some politicians' catering to the shortsighted opposition is unrealistic opportunism. The Jeju case only proves how difficult it is to introduce a for-profit hospital and attract foreign capital to the local medical industry. This is just too bad for the nation.