The South Phyongan Provincial People’s Hospital was inaugurated on January 10 1947, about one and a half years after Korea’s liberation from Japanese military rule.

The hospital with a total floor space of 37 000 square metres consists of wards for outpatients, inpatients and operation, an auxiliary building and dispensary.

It has a clinical institute specializing in research into neurosurgery, ophthalmology, health management, clinical immunity and pharmacology.

“Our hospital positively develops medical appliances and introduces advanced diagnostic and treatment methods in line with the modern trend of medical development and, through online consultations with central, city and county people’s hospitals, contributes to the treatment and prevention of diseases and improvement of health of provincial population,” said Rim Hyon Gil, deputy director in charge of technical affairs.

According to him, the hospital resuscitated lots of serious and dying cases in the past.

The ophthalmic department, in particular, is well known in the country for high professional competence.

“Our department succeeded in more than 400 cases of eye operations and drug therapy for over 8 400 patients between mid-October and late December last year. It was possible as every medical worker of the department possessed good practical ability,” said ophthalmologist Pak Kyong Jun.

Kim Tal Yong, Merited Doctor, PhD, associate professor and head of the department, performed more than ten thousand successful operations, wrote over 30 pieces of relevant teaching materials, reference books and papers and received nine certificates of national inventions and some 50 certificates of introduction of new technologies over the past four decades

The proficiency of the department was more widely known some years ago when they brought eyesight back to a young woman who was diagnosed with amblyopia caused by congenital underdevelopment of the eye, congenital cataract and hereditary hypermyopia

Until then, the department had had no previous experience in treating patients with an eyesight of below 0.02, but the surgeons carried out four rounds of operations to normalize the functions of her optic nerve and retinae and restored her sight through over 100 days of treatment as they devised new plans for preventing post-operative complication.

The department of neurosurgery has also been successful in curing patients.

Its surgeons are skilful in performing such difficult operations as cerebral ventriculoperitoneal shunt and those for tumours of the brain and spinal cord

The papers presented by medical workers of the hospital are highly appreciated at the annual national sci-tech symposium and presentation.