Yonsei Medical Center emphasizing “digital healthcare leadership” for the new year[전문]

I am deeply grateful to all of the 13,000 faculty and staff who performed their responsibilities and roles unwaveringly in the event of last year’s COVID-19 pandemic. You have had a lot of trouble.

In the New Year, Yonsei Medical Center faculty and alumni, I hope that the families of missionaries who preach the Gospel all over the world will be filled with joy and happiness.

We start the new year with hope again, but the reality that unfolds before us is not easy. The spread of corona is difficult to predict, and the deteriorated social and economic indicators seldom show signs of improvement. Infinite competition in the medical world is getting fiercer day by day. Yonsei Medical Center, Severance, cannot be settled on its reputation.

In 2021 under super uncertainty, I want to overcome the turmoil as one of Yonsei Medical Center faculty members. I think that any difficulties can be overcome if your outstanding competence and high self-esteem gather.

This year is the’Year of the Cow’. Like the steps of a reliable and dignified cow, step by step with strength

We want to share with you our goals and plans to go.

First, we will lead the future policy business without a hitch.

Yongin Severance Hospital, which has been in its second year since its opening, has undergone an initial stabilization period and is growing rapidly. As Korea’s leading digital innovative hospital, we will support providing high-quality medical services.

The design of Songdo Severance Hospital (tentative name) in Incheon, where missionaries took their first steps, is in progress as planned. We will promote it to become the core of Yonsei Science Park and Biomedical Cluster.

We will carefully examine the construction process of the heavy particle cancer treatment center to be completed in December this year. We will build a solid foundation for the phased reconstruction of Gangnam Severance Hospital, which will enhance the future competitiveness of Yonsei Medical Center. We will work out the new medical school construction project step by step so that it can become the birthplace of convergence research.

We look forward to your continued interest and support for all future policy projects that are progressing smoothly despite difficult conditions.

Second, we will build a bridgehead to secure leadership in digital healthcare.

Information and communication technology (ICT) and big data are the core elements of future medical care represented by precision medicine and digital health. In the new year, we will focus more on the practical implementation of a data-driven hospital.

We will boldly invest in the development of a platform that collects and manages valuable data scattered throughout the medical center. Following the establishment of the Big Data Lab, we will expand the dedicated data management organization and secure human resources. We will also strongly promote the foundational innovation business to digitize useful data.

By preparing the foundation for realization of a data-driven hospital, the next step, the discovery and expansion of data-using services, will be able to establish itself as a leading medical institution in digital healthcare.

Third, we will focus on securing human resources and developing capabilities, which are valuable strategic assets.

We will establish a long-term human resource development strategy. We will systematize the system and organization for practical improvement of the personnel and education system for faculty and staff. Through this, we will design a strategic personnel system, establish a manpower development plan, and realize creative manpower management.

The establishment of an integrated learning platform will develop the careers and competencies of faculty members, and the formation of a learning community will enable internal communication and improve work processes.

It is also important to strengthen the capacity to foster future medical personnel. We will steadily support the activities of the Future Teachers Committee promoted by the College of Medicine and the establishment and operation of a medical education center for professors and students.

Fourth, we will secure research competitiveness by focusing on research capabilities.

The improvement of research power of Yonsei University Medical Center faculty members is a key driving force for institutional development and creates enormous added value. Centering on the Medical Science Research Center, we will select and support the fields that our institution can do well and the research fields that must be conducted.

We will establish a joint research system of researchers and actively attract investment. Furthermore, we will strive to ensure that valuable intellectual property of medical centers is evaluated for its fair value by expanding the commercialization platform such as the establishment of a medical technology holding company.

If a new type of intellectual property creation project, such as human derivatives and genome information, goes on track during the first half of the year, its status as a central institution for medical industrialization will further strengthen.

Lastly, we will strive to realize the institutional mission of Yonsei Medical Center.

No matter how difficult and difficult the situation is, we will not neglect the work of nurturing and developing the mission of Yonsei Medical Center for 137 years. The noble spirit of sharing and mission from Mr. Allen-Abison is the essence of our institution.

We will support Yonsei Medical Center’s’Aesthetics of Sharing’ by Mr. Severance so that it can be realized around the world through various service activities.

Dear Yonsei Medical Center family,

Let’s create greater hope for the future with the confidence of being a member of the best medical institution that looks beyond Korea and the world. If we make efforts to make 2021 the’first year of taking a strong step toward a new 100 years of the future’, we will face our image of ourselves facing the future with a bolder attitude a year later.

“By faith in him in him we come unto God with boldness and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). Let’s remember the precious words from God. It’s a difficult situation, but let’s work hard and read each other. All of the faculty and staff are’Yonsei Medical Center’. Thank you.

January 4, 2021
Yonsei University Medical Vice President and Medical Center
Yoon Dong-seop