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When Your Child Is Sick, Visit a Neighborhood Clinic Instead of the ER: Two Dalbit Children’s Hospitals in Gangseo-gu to Operate Daily Starting Today

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that, starting today (the 1st), two Dalbit Children’s Hospitals in Gangseo-gu (Myeongji Children’s Hospital and Haengbokhan Children’s Hospital) will operate on a daily basis to address gaps in nighttime and holiday pediatric care and to alleviate overcrowding in emergency rooms.

“Dalbit Children’s Hospitals” provide outpatient care for children with mild symptoms during weekday nighttime hours and on holidays (Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays), offering an alternative to emergency rooms.

The program aims to enhance access to care for mild cases through neighborhood medical institutions and to reduce the inconvenience and financial burden associated with emergency room visits.

The two hospitals will operate ▲until 23:00 on weekdays and ▲from 09:00 to 18:00 on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, providing care for children with mild symptoms during nights and holidays.

The existing Dalbit Children’s Hospital, Myeongji Children’s Hospital, has provided care only on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays since February 2024. Starting today (the 1st), it will shift to daily operation that includes weekday nighttime hours.

Haengbokhan Children’s Hospital has been newly designated as a Dalbit Children’s Hospital this year (2026).

With this expansion, the city now has a total of nine designated Dalbit Children’s Hospitals in operation.

The Dalbit Children’s Hospitals currently in operation are: ▲Jeonggwan Woori Children’s Hospital (Gijang-gun) ▲Aisarang Hospital (Yeonje-gu) ▲99 Seoul Pediatrics Clinic (Dongnae-gu) ▲I Seoul Hospital (Yeongdo-gu) ▲Busan The Kids Hospital (Saha-gu) ▲Haeundae Pureunbada Hospital (Haeundae-gu) ▲Geumjeong Pediatrics Clinic (Geumjeong-gu) ▲Myeongji Children’s Hospital and Haengbokhan Children’s Hospital (Gangseo-gu).

This expansion of Dalbit Children’s Hospitals in the West Busan area aims to provide stable local care for pediatric patients with mild symptoms and to help distribute demand away from emergency rooms at tertiary general hospitals.

In particular, it forms part of a mid- to long-term improvement plan designed to ease the inconvenience for guardians who have had no choice but to visit emergency rooms due to a lack of nighttime and holiday care providers, and to enhance access within the pediatric emergency medical system.

In Gangseo-gu, despite a steady increase in the child population driven by new-town development and population inflows, the local infrastructure for nighttime pediatric care has not been sufficient, concentrating the burden on emergency room use.

In addition, Jeonggwan Woori Children’s Hospital in Gijang-gun, the Dalbit Children’s Hospital in the East Busan area, will extend its operating hours starting today (the 1st) and provide care until midnight on weekdays as well as Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.

Jeonggwan Woori Children’s Hospital will extend its hours ▲from 23:00 to 24:00 on weekdays and ▲from 18:00 to 24:00 on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. This is expected to further strengthen response capacity for pediatric care during nights and holidays.

Jo Gyu-yul, Director General of Citizen Health Bureau, said, “The shift to daily operation and the new designation of Dalbit Children’s Hospitals in Gangseo-gu are not short-term responses to a particular incident, but policies that our city has been preparing step by step in anticipation of growing demand for pediatric emergency medical services,” adding, “We will continue to closely analyze local conditions and medical utilization patterns to gradually expand pediatric emergency medical infrastructure and to steadily create a medical environment where both parents and children can receive care with peace of mind.”