Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Selects Three Facilities as the First Busan Accreditation for Safe Infection Care Institutions through the Nation’s First Action-Oriented Accreditation System

내용

□ Busan Metropolitan City Mayor Park Heong-joon announced that the city has selected three senior care facilities as the first accredited institutions through the Busan Accreditation for Safe Infection Care (hereinafter referred to as the “Accreditation”), which was launched for the first time nationwide in collaboration with Yoo Gyu-won, President of the Busan Social Service Institute.

○ A total of five senior care facilities applied for the Accreditation. Following preliminary screening, three facilities were selected and underwent a rigorous process, including advance consultation and consulting (two sessions per institution), facility self-assessment, on-site evaluation, and deliberation by the Accreditation Review Committee. Ultimately, three institutions that met the accreditation standards were selected as certified institutions.

□ This year’s Busan Accreditation for Safe Infection Care institutions are Gijang Silver Town (Gijang-gun), Serim Eoreusinui Jip (Haeundae-gu), and Aekwang Nursing Home for Dementia (Geumjeong-gu).

○ The accreditation period is three years. Busan Metropolitan City will provide each accredited institution with operational support funding ranging from a minimum of KRW 1 million to a maximum of KRW 10 million, and will conduct annual infection management monitoring.

□ The Accreditation is a regionally tailored, action-oriented certification system introduced by Busan Metropolitan City in August this year to support senior care facilities in establishing environments that are safe from infectious diseases and in operating systematic infection management on a routine basis.

○ Rather than serving as a simple mandatory evaluation, the Accreditation is a public service innovation model that encourages voluntary participation by facilities and creates a care environment where both residents and their families can feel reassured.

○ Its primary objective is to promote autonomous infection prevention activities by facilities and to preemptively block the spread of infectious diseases in the community.

□ After customized on-site advance consultation and consulting, facilities undergo an accreditation evaluation. Accreditation is granted to facilities that meet or exceed the required standard score (70 points or higher).

○ The accreditation evaluation indicators consist of 34 items. These indicators were researched and developed over seven months by the city’s Public Health and Medical Support Group through advisory meetings with infectious disease experts, heads of senior care facilities, city officials, the Social Service Institute, and others, as well as through on-site verification and data collection.

○ This year’s evaluation comprehensively assessed the level of infection safety across care facilities, including infection management practices, facility environments, staff training, and response systems. In addition, during the evaluation process, improvement measures tailored to each facility’s conditions were presented, ensuring that the Accreditation would go beyond a simple assessment and serve as an opportunity to strengthen on-site capacity.

□ The certificate and plaque award ceremony will be held today (December 23) at 3:00 p.m. at the Citizen Health Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City.

○ The ceremony will be attended by the Director General of the Citizen Health Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, heads of the accredited institutions, the President of the Social Service Institute, and the President of the Association of Senior Welfare Facilities. The program will include the presentation of certificates and plaques, sharing of participation experiences in the Accreditation, and a tea meeting to facilitate communication among the accredited institutions.

□ To implement the Accreditation this year, Busan Metropolitan City worked to establish a legal foundation, reflect voices from the field, and develop a field-oriented infection management accreditation system trusted by citizens. These efforts included holding expert discussions, forums, and public-private joint advisory meetings for information sharing.

○ In February, the city held a discussion forum on support measures for infection-vulnerable facilities to expand community consensus. In May, it enacted the “Busan Metropolitan City Ordinance on Infection Management Accreditation and Support.”

□ Furthermore, Busan Metropolitan City plans to select seven accredited institutions next year, ten institutions annually from 2027 onward, and aims to accredit 50 percent of senior care facilities within the city by 2030.

○ Based on the outcomes of this year’s pilot program, the city will continue to refine the accreditation indicators and operational system, expand the number of accredited institutions, and further strengthen a community care safety net centered on infectious disease prevention.

□ Jo Gyu-yul, Director General of the Citizen Health Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “The Busan Accreditation for Safe Infection Care is the nation’s first initiative designed to elevate infection management standards at care sites by one level.” He added, “Through this accreditation, we expect to enhance the sense of responsibility and pride of accredited institutions and to see safe care environments protected from infectious diseases spread throughout the community. Going forward, we will continue our efforts to build Busan into a healthy city of safe infection care that citizens can trust.”