Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital

Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital held a ceremony on November 17 on the 10th anniversary of the Perinatal Care Service Project for Multicultural Family which is supported by the City of Seoul.

The ceremony was aired on Youtube live and the on and offline attendees were over 150 including Mayor Ho-kwon Choi of Yeongdeungpo-gu, as well as hospital officials including Director Young-Goo Lee, Chief Medical Officer Dong-Jin Lee, Chief Administrative Officer Chul-Kyu Park, Chief Planning Officer Ji-Hyo Hwang, Project Director Yong-Gyun Noh, Nursing Director Eun-Ju Lim, and Social Work Manager Gyeong-Ae Choi.

The total budget of the Multicultural Family Support Project for 10 years was 540 million won, and the number of participants was 35,000. Kangnam hospital explained the meaning of the project and its achievements over the 10 years and presented future plans.

Starting with the opening remarks by Hospital Director Young-Goo Lee, the ceremony was filled with various programs including congratulatory video messages, the introductions of various supportive projects such as interpretation service, mental and physical health promotion, the presentation on the 'Vento' volunteer interpreter development program, the report on the health status of married immigrant women.

The patient-centered interpretation support program led to the training of medical interpreters, ‘Vento,’ and social job creation. Since 2015, 95 Ventos have been produced and about 9,000 patients received the medical interpretation support service.

In addition, the hospital opened a childbirth class to provide knowledge of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting and helped about 1,400 married immigrant women and their families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the class was provided through a non-contact online Metaverse platform in order to prevent the virus transmission since 2021.

“For the last ten years, we have worked together with Seoul on the Perinatal Care Service Project for Multicultural Families to help them to settle down in Korean society and make healthy families”, said Director Young-Goo Lee. He added, “Since there are many multicultural families in Daelim-dong, where Kangnam hospital is located, we will continue to do our best to care for the multicultural families.”

Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital will keep carrying out the Perinatal Care Service for Multicultural Families in 2023. Medical interpreter training programs and medical interpreter support programs will also continue. Patients who want to interpret can reserve the service through the interpretation reservation app, Hallymvento.

By Hyun Ho Choi, Int’l Cooperation Team, HUMC (dullie1989@hallym.or.kr)