There is no doubt that Seoul National University Hospital has been a leader here with its top-tier workforce stressing research and development as well as clinical practice. It is now committed to providing world-class medical education, research and patient care.

Having led in diagnosis for almost a century, the hospital has stepped up efforts to lead the medical field as well with its cutting-edge equipment and the brand new cancer treatment center next to the main building. With the new building, the hospital has become one of the largest in the country with 4,000 beds, 8,400 staff looking over 4 million outpatients and about 150,000 inpatients annually.

SNUH has accumulated experience in foreign patient treatment by joining hands with foreign embassies in Seoul over patient referrals. The fact that more than 1,500 journal papers were written by its staff has secured public trust, too, said Jung Hee-won, president and CEO of the hospital.

“Our hospital has already signed a similar agreement with a Kazakhstani national hospital and medical research center. We hope our knowledge and experience will be clearly recognized in the field when looking after Abu Dhabi patients,” he said.

The hospital renovated its international healthcare center last year and established a system on patient referral-transfer-examination-diagnosis-treatment protocol for foreign patients. Services are available in English, Chinese, Japanese and Russian and volunteers also provide other language services if necessary.

“We have also established Halal menu from Itaewon and a prayer room for the Muslims. We also have a concierge service to take over hotel reservation and air port pick up service by ambulance, among others. All the processes are organized by coordinators who are well-versed with foreign culture and language,” Jung said.

The hospital has recently upgraded its Arabic language website, which is expected to enhance understanding of the hospital.

“We hope the pact will be a starting point for the two countries’ as well as our hospitals’ exchanges in not only treatment but also research, education and training sectors,” he added.