The opening ceremony of the center was held on April 29, in the presence of Seoul Mayor, Park Won-soon and Ewha president Kim Sun-uk along with administrators of other labor unions.
The KOSHA has operated five Workers’ Health Centers in areas other than Seoul such as Seongnam and Bucheon in the Gyeonggi Province since 2011 to provide health care service for small businesses with less than 50 employees.The working environments of small businesses face weak economic support and do not require health care managers, leading to poor health care service for the employees. Thus, in order to expand health care service for employees, the KOSHA held recruitment on private agencies for consigned management of the center in January. Ewha applied for the spot and was selected to look after the first Seoul Workers’ Health Center.
For the last two years, Ewha has made significant efforts to establish the center along with Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, which plans to provide clinical service for the center. The School of Medicine focused on discovering health problems especially severe ones among employees in the specific area by providing medical checkups for them, as well as expanding its network with local members such as labor unions and local governments.
The center is located in the Seoul Digital Complex, which is in Gasan-dong, Gumcheon-gu.Employees within the complex can have an easy access to the center’s office and improve not only their health status but ultimately, the overall welfare of employees as well.
For the first three years, the center will receive a support of 560 million won a year from KOSHA and will have a valuation for another three years after the three-year period. At the longest, the center will be funded for six years.
“We hope to offer tailored medical care for employees through Seoul Worker’s Health Care Center,” said professor Ha Eun-hee (Medicine), the head of the Seoul Workers’ Health Center. “Many employees have had to cope with musculoskeletal disorders and stress since a large portion of them provide long-time labor or emotional labor.”
Professor Ha says the center plans to approach female employees in the future through specially gender-sensitive methods.
Moon Bo-ra
boramoon@ewhain.net