Gyeonggi Province's First Municipal Animal Hospital Established to Coexist with Private Sector

Provincial Councilor Choi Jong-hyun (Democratic Party, Suwon District 7) of the Safe Administrative Committee of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council held a deliberation meeting on June 22 at the Gyeonggi Provincial Council to establish the 'Gyeonggi Provincial Animal Hospital Installation and Operation Ordinance,' with participation from the Gyeonggi Veterinary Medical Association and related provincial government officials. The meeting discussed the role of the provincial animal hospital and cooperative coexistence measures with private animal hospitals.

Councilor Choi Jong-hyun stated, "While pet ownership has become commonplace, pet owners continue to face difficulties in receiving necessary treatment due to high medical costs," and "The important purpose of promoting a provincial animal hospital is to establish areas where the public sector bears responsibility so that necessary animal medical care can be provided regardless of economic circumstances."

He continued, "The provincial animal hospital is not a facility meant to directly handle all animal medical care or engage in low-cost competition with private animal hospitals. It needs to operate as a public animal medical hub that focuses on fields with high public value such as treatment for vulnerable groups and lost/abandoned animals, disaster response, and management of zoonotic infectious diseases, while cooperating with private animal hospitals."

The ordinance currently under review includes provisions for an operation committee with members recommended by the Gyeonggi Veterinary Medical Association to deliberate on the scope of public medical services, treatment fees and reductions, hospital operations, and cooperation methods with private animal hospitals. Particularly, the plan also reviews a function to accumulate actual treatment costs and operational data to establish reasonable treatment fees and support standards necessary for public medical services.

Additionally, the proposal includes methods to expand professional expertise and participation from the veterinary field by allowing some operations such as treatment, research, and education to be outsourced to specialized institutions or organizations.

At the meeting, the Gyeonggi Veterinary Medical Association proposed plans to perform public animal medical functions by utilizing existing public facilities and designating private animal hospitals as 'public cooperation animal hospitals' to provide necessary treatment primarily for socially disadvantaged groups.

In response, Councilor Choi Jong-hyun proposed initially operating the provincial animal hospital as a hub for public animal medical care while establishing treatment scope and standards, treatment costs, and support criteria, and subsequently building a cooperation system for referrals and transfers with private animal hospitals. Long-term plans envision expanding verified public medical standards and cooperation models to private animal hospitals across Gyeonggi Province's 31 cities and counties, developing into a system where necessary public animal medical care can be accessed anywhere in Gyeonggi Province.

Councilor Choi Jong-hyun emphasized, "The public sector must play its necessary role so that pet owners in Gyeonggi Province do not abandon needed treatment due to medical costs," and "At the same time, it is important to create a coexistence system where the public and private sectors divide roles while respecting the expertise held by the Gyeonggi Veterinary Medical Association and private animal hospitals and local medical resources."

At the meeting, it was agreed to continue further discussions with the Gyeonggi Veterinary Medical Association, and to hold a legislative policy forum to broadly gather opinions from experts, related departments, and residents, while preparing an ordinance that balances public accessibility that pet owners can feel, professional expertise from the veterinary field, and cooperative coexistence with private animal hospitals.