Gov't expands mobile medical clinic services to bridge health gaps in aging rural towns

Residents in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, receive checkups from doctors from Pocheon Woori Hospital inside the Gasan Sports and Cultue Center, Tuesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung speaks at the Gasan Sports and Cultue Center in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, where residents underwent medical checkups. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province — An auditorium inside the Gasan Sports and Culture Center, a local landmark in Gasan County in Pocheon, bustled with hundreds of older residents on Tuesday, a rare scene in the less developed area, located 60 kilometers north of Seoul.

The crowd gathered for medical checkups and treatments among seven makeshift compartments installed with portable equipment offering dental care, oral health, musculoskeletal treatment, optometry, bone density care, dementia care and pharmacy services.

After registering, visitors were guided to the appropriate section based on their needs, where they waited for their turn.

Korea Electric Power Corp., the country’s exclusive power distributor, and the Pocheon Fire Station also set up booths to inform visitors about safe power usage and information on using emergency services.

Outside the auditorium, a makeshift tent offered free hot meals to visitors on a snowy day. A mobile laundromat set up on a truck welcomed visitors who had clothes or fabrics to wash.

“Most visitors have worse conditions than those in the same age group in other regions. They have a bad neck, back and knees. Some of them cannot even stretch out their arms well,” one of the chiropractors at the musculoskeletal section said. The symptoms observed in most of the county's residents stemmed from their lifestyle, which primarily involves agricultural labor.

A dentist said some of the patients he saw that day could not afford to take care of their teeth due to more critical health issues they were suffering from.

More than 400 visitors passed through the gymnasium through the day.

Around 300 regional townships with 60,000 residents altogether have the poorest quality of medical services nationwide because of their geographical isolation from the nearest cities, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

To support those residents, the government has been running a free medical clinic tour since last year, visiting different townships that need urgent medical assistance. The authorities have scheduled one day for each township on the tour.

Visitors wait for musculoskeletal checkups inside the Gasan Sports and Culture Center in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

This month, the service tour, in partnership with the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, commonly referred to as Nonghyup, and medical experts from local townships, has visited 20 different townships. Pohang was one of the municipalities that applied for the service this year in January and February. The service helped 169 townships last year and plans to visit over 250 this year.

The ministry has invested 3.2 billion won ($2.2 million) in the project this year, 40 percent of the overall budget. NongHyup and local municipalities have each invested half of the remainder.

“This kind of service must expand further to like once a month for each local township. We need more heartwarming policies like this. To realize this, local municipalities, local NongHyup offices and local medical groups must cooperate to sustain this service without relying on the central government,” said Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryung, who visited the Gasan gymnasium on the same day.

As of the first quarter of 2023, only 8 percent of the country’s medical establishments served agricultural regions, while the rest were concentrated in cities and larger counties.

Agricultural regions have also been aging faster than cities, with 25 percent of the local population aged 65 or older, compared to the national average of 17.7 percent in 2022. This has led to disadvantaged seniors experiencing longer periods of illness and a higher rate of sickness than their urban counterparts.

The project, launched last year in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, is part of the government’s fifth five-year plan to improve the quality of life for agricultural and fishery communities nationwide, which will be unveiled next week.

The plan includes 180 tasks aimed at boosting local economies, creating jobs, improving living conditions, increasing the population and developing public welfare services.

Song said she has confirmed the urgent medical welfare needs of the country’s regional residents.

“Some visitors today thanked Nonghyup officials for the service. Seeing that made me feel proud and also sad. This policy might seem small, but it goes a long way."