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Connecting Health and Care Close to Citizens: Busan Metropolitan City to Host “Busan Integrated Care Symposium: From Prevention to Care”

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that it will hold the “Busan Integrated Care Symposium: From Prevention to Care” today, September 18, at 2:00 p.m. in the Grand Auditorium of Busan City Hall.

The symposium has been organized to advance the ninth popularly elected administration’s vision of making Busan a city where care is readily available. It will add a health component to care and explore the future direction of community-based health and care by linking Busan’s integrated care system with Village Health Centers, which have provided preventive health management services close to citizens.

Approximately 500 people are expected to attend the event, including Mayor Chun Jae-soo, public health center officials, village nurses and community health workers, health leaders, citizens participating in health communities, Haha Health Partners, representatives of community partner organizations, and experts.

Through the symposium, Busan Metropolitan City will work with participants to chart the direction of a “Busan health and care” model that provides prevention and management support while citizens are healthy and seamlessly connects them with medical, welfare, and care services when assistance is needed.

Busan already has 63 Village Health Centers located close to where residents live. Led by nurses and community health workers, these centers provide locally tailored health management services, including health consultations, chronic disease management, frailty prevention, and community health activities.

Building on the strengths of these existing health assets, the city plans to enhance the functions of Village Health Centers with a focus on prevention, management, and connection. The centers will identify health risks at an early stage and provide continuous management while linking residents in need to medical, welfare, and care resources. In this way, the city intends to develop the centers into a core health foundation for Busan’s integrated care system.

Part 1 will feature expert presentations and a discussion incorporating perspectives from the field, focusing on “Busan Integrated Care and Village Health Centers.”

First, Son Ji-hyun, President of the Busan Social Service Agency, will deliver a presentation titled “Understanding Busan’s Community-Based Integrated Care: From Deinstitutionalization to Relationship-Based Welfare,” followed by Yoon Tae-ho, Professor at the Pusan National University School of Medicine, who will present “Village Health Centers and Integrated Care: A Community Where Residents Care for One Another.”

The discussion will then be moderated by Choi Min-hyuk, Head of the Healthy City Project Support Group. Participants will include Park Hee-yong, a member of the Welfare and Environment Committee of the Busan Metropolitan Council; Lee Hyo-young, Professor at Dongseo University; Kim In-sook, Director of the Bansong Comprehensive Social Welfare Center; Jeong Gyu-seok, Director of the Dongnae-gu Public Health Center; and Jo Eun-dong, a community health worker from Deokpo 1-dong. They will discuss the future direction of Busan’s health and care model from the perspectives of the city council, academia, public health and welfare practitioners, and local residents.

Part 2 will provide training for Haha Health Partners under the theme “The Role of Haha Health Partners in the Era of Community-Based Integrated Care.”

Haha Health Partners are specialized personnel in Busan’s frailty prevention program linked to senior employment opportunities. The program was introduced last year, in 2025, and 171 partners are working in communities this year, in 2026. They support the operation of Health UP programs and small-group health activities and help residents manage their health by identifying people with health vulnerabilities and conducting home visits.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “Busan’s integrated care system must go beyond providing support only after people come to need care. It should provide prevention and management support while citizens are still healthy and connect them seamlessly to medical, welfare, and care services when the need arises.”

He added, “Busan already has valuable community assets in its Village Health Centers, which have long protected citizens’ health close to where they live. By building on the strengths of these centers and adding health care services, we will further develop them into a core foundation of Busan’s integrated care system.”

Mayor Chun continued, “Just as the Arctic shipping route connects Busan with the world, we will open a new route for health and care centered on Village Health Centers, connecting citizens’ health with the care they need and developing it into an integrated care model unique to Busan.”