Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital

The Head and Neck Cancer Center of Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital won a special prize for its specialized cancer center at the award ceremony of the 'Medical Korea Awards 2008'. The event, which was co-sponsored by the Korea Economic Daily, the Korea Economic TV, HanKyung.com and Yahoo Korea, was held at the Emerald Room of the Shilla Hotel. A total of 15 general hospitals and 10 specialized hospitals were awarded in 24 fields.

The 'Medical Korea Awards 2008' was established by the Korea Economic Daily, the Korea Economic TV, HanKyung.com and Yahoo Korea to meet the needs of medical consumers for best medical practices, and to promote medical services in general. The successful candidates have been selected through online and offline surveys on specialized centers and clinics.

From August 1 to 8 this year, about 38,000 citizens responded to questionnaires online, and 2,300 visitors of hospitals joined face-to-face interviews and telephone surveys. The survey results show the quality of medical treatment, and the brand power of the nation's specialized centers and clinics.

Kangdong has been recognized for its high-risk surgeries for head and neck cancer that only a few cancer centers of major domestic hospitals are involved. The surgeries being done at Kangdong include tongue cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, oral cancer and esophageal cancer.

Dr. Young-Soo Roh, director of the center and one of the best head and neck surgeons in Korea with extensive surgical experiences, carries out surgeries with Dr. Chul-Hoon Jung, one of the best reconstructive plastic surgeon. Their performances have been credited as the nation's best.

Next month, the center is going to move to a newly constructed annex of Kangdong Hospital, with six floors above the ground and three floors underground, under a new name of 'Ilsong Head and Neck Surgery Center.' The new center will provide six special clinical treatments on head and neck cancer including tongue cancer, laryngeal cancer, oral cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer.

By Jonghun Im, Int'l Operations Team, HUMC