Lady ward for female cancer patients open

     The Ewha Womans University Medical Center (EUMC) opened its first “Lady Ward”, a female cancer center, on March 4. This is one year after the EUMC officially opened the Ewha Womans University Cancer Center for Women. 
     Although the EUMC has been recognized as a hospital specializing in women’s cancer, with a 262 percent increase in operations for breast and thyroid cancer, Lee Gil-soo, the chief of the Public Relations Department in the EUMC, said the center has more to accomplish. 
     “The center has been constantly praised for its specialty, recording a 172 percent increase in the number of cancer operations conducted compared to March last year,” said Lee. “One of our tasks is to provide differentiated service and value that patients cannot find in any other hospital, one of which is to establish the Lady Ward.” 
     The Lady Ward has a total of 93 patient’s rooms. In multi-bed rooms, televisions were removed so that patients do not fight over the channels. An LCD monitor is attached to the wall of each patient’s room, showing the patients’ names and the nurses in charge. Next to the bed, each patient has a private telephone and refrigerator. Not only patients in a single room, but also those in a multi-bed room have showers and toilets within their hospital room.
     The hallway and the ceiling are covered with sound-absorbing materials, helping reduce noise in the whole ward. Televisions are available in a multipurpose room, and patients can also do activities such as use the Internet or get music therapy or counseling in the multipurpose room. 
     The ward also provides an integrated system for administration, checkup, and reservations. Two hospital coordinators arrange one-on-one meetings with patients to talk about their condition, prescriptions, and future plans for treatment. These medical coordinators are experts in adjusting medical service and play an important role to help satisfy the needs of the patients by acting as mediators between the patients and the hospital.
     The Lady Ward also made an effort to help patients thoroughly understand their disease by conducting free information sessions throughout the year. The programs include a variety of activities which range from information sessions regarding cancer treatment to playful activities to relieve stress. 
     “Having succeeded in launching and operating the EUCCW, the EUMC will make further efforts to make people think directly of the EUMC when it comes to cancer for women. We will keep specializing in cancer by establishing a center for joint treatment of cancer this year,” said Lee.