Abstract
Objectives : To look at the medical law reformation of Korean Medicine hospitals through the establishment and management of the Jaehan Oriental Medicine Hospital, which was the first Korean Medicine Hospital in South Korea. Methods : Revisions of the medical law since the establishment of the National Medical Act in 1951 up until 1973 when the 'Korean Medicine hospital' first entered the medical institution category were examined. Based on the revised contents, the establishment and management of the Jaehan hospital were examined. Results & Conclusions : The first mentioning of 'Korean Medicine hospital' in the medical law took place on Feb 16, 1973 when the medical law was completely revised. After law regulations on Korean Medicine hospitals were established, the fist Korean Medicine hospital was founded on Nov. 24th, 1973 according to act 2533 of the medical law. This is the Jaehan Oriental Medicine Hospital, which is the predecessor of what we now know as the Daegu Korean Medicine University Hospital. Although the Jaehan hospital was registered as a legitimate Korean Medicine hospital in November of 1973, it had already started medical practice in December of 1970. While it was established according to the standards of medical law, it changed its institution category from 'Korean Medicine hospital' to 'affiliated Korean Medicine clinic' based on another clause within the same law. The decade from 1960 to 1970 was a time when national economy was developing, and the field of medicine and medical institutions were also booming. As such, revisions in the medical law seems to not have been able to keep up with what was happening in reality. To meet the patients' right to move or to manage diseases which Korean Medicine was taking responsibility for, a medical institution with inpatient capacity was required. Therefore it is possible that the Jaehan hospital which had already been providing such a role could have been a sample case for reference in the medical law revision process.