As the New Year begins, filled with hope and renewed momentum, we wish good health and happiness to all members of the Asan Medical Center family and their loved ones throughout the year ahead.

 

With the return of our medical trainees, all previously closed wards were reopened by the end of last year, and the Asan Medical Center operations are steadily returning to stability. We extend our sincere appreciation to all physicians, nurses, and staff for their dedicated efforts in safeguarding our patients and the Asan Medical Center around the clock, and for delivering attentive care to minimize any gaps in care despite the high level of case severity.

 

Even as we navigated a challenging year, we achieved meaningful accomplishments. In the medical field rankings released last year by the US news magazine Newsweek, six specialties at Asan Medical Center including oncology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, neurology, urology, and orthopedics were ranked among the world’s top 10. This is the highest number among hospitals in Korea and reflects our recognition on the global stage as a leading institution for the treatment of complex and severe conditions.

 

Our commitment to restoring life and hope for each and every patient has continued through a series of landmark achievements, including the world’s first 9,000 liver transplantations, the nation’s first 3,000 robotic surgeries for colorectal cancer, 300 lung transplantations, and 100 CAR T-cell therapy procedures. We hope that these efforts will continue in the year ahead, enabling us to help even more patients regain healthy and fulfilling lives.

 

 

Renewed Strength for a Greater Leap Forward

At every moment, we face a rapidly changing healthcare environment, heightened expectations from patients with complex conditions, and intense competition from other hospitals. After a period marked by conflict and division stemming from medical policy disputes, the time has come to heal emotional wounds, restore strained relationships, and revitalize healthcare so that we may move forward once again.

Beyond the trust we may have lost from our patients, we must also restore relationships that were strained across departments and positions by fostering understanding and consideration among faculty and medical trainees, physicians and nurses alike, and by recognizing and respecting one another’s responsibilities and contributions. As trust within our organization grows stronger, trust from the outside and from our patients will be restored more swiftly. When we fully carry out our respective roles in patient care, research, and education, and once again demonstrate performance that not only matches but exceeds our previous standards, we will be able to say that we have truly recovered. Our resilience will not be confined to returning to the previous state but will carry us forward toward higher and more meaningful goals.

 

 

Pursuing Patient Centered Care Grounded in Value

Value based healthcare goes beyond traditional measures such as the volume of services, clinical outcomes, or survival rates. It places equal importance on outcomes that truly matter to patients’ quality of life, including pain control and functional recovery. For example, even when prostate cancer is successfully treated, ongoing urinary incontinence can significantly affect daily life. Likewise, a patient who is cured of esophageal cancer may continue to struggle with eating due to recurrent postoperative strictures. Because the challenges patients experience in their daily lives are also meaningful treatment outcomes, healthcare that takes these factors into account is defined as value based healthcare (VBHC)

 

One of the key practices in implementing value based healthcare is the use of Patient Reported Outcome Measurement, or PROM (Patient Reported Outcome Measurement). We will expand the basic PROM initiatives already in place in selected departments and ensure that patient reported data are meaningfully integrated into clinical care to further enhance the depth and quality of treatment. The WithONE program, which provides integrated, end to end care and support for older patients with complex conditions from hospitalization through post discharge, as well as the redefinition of clinical privileges that has been advanced over the past five years to strengthen patient safety and establish a high standard of care, can also be seen as part of our broader commitment to value based healthcare.

 

One of the key practices in implementing value-based healthcare is the use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). We will expand the basic PROMs initiatives already in place in selected departments and ensure that patient-reported data are meaningfully integrated into clinical care to further enhance the depth and quality of treatment. The WithONE program, which provides integrated, end-to-end care and support for older patients with complex conditions from hospitalization through post-discharge, as well as the redefinition of clinical privileges advanced over the past five years to strengthen patient safety and establish a high standard of care, can also be seen as part of our broader commitment to value-based healthcare.

 

Having achieved a mature level of quality and patient safety through AGS (Asan Global Standard) and sustained PI (Performance Improvement) activities, the Asan Medical Center now seeks to further elevate its patient centered, value based healthcare system. By establishing continuous monitoring frameworks and fostering a patient centered culture, let us bring together our collective capabilities to move from simply treating disease to restoring and rebuilding patients’ lives.

 

 

Future Competitiveness Driven by Infrastructure Innovation

Investment and innovation for the Asan Medical Center’s future are being advanced steadily and consistently in accordance with our long term roadmap.

The introduction of the heavy ion therapy system is moving forward with the goal of beginning patient treatment in 2031. Construction approvals for the expansion of Building P and the Heavy Ion Therapy Center will be completed in the first half of the year, with groundwork scheduled to begin in June. This initiative represents a strategic declaration of our commitment to leading future medicine and will serve as a foundation for strengthening our competitiveness in cancer treatment. Last year, we signed an MOU with Japan’s QST (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology) Hospital, which has led the development, research, and advancement of heavy ion therapy, and we are also pursuing joint research to expand treatment applications to cancers that have previously been limited in their eligibility for this therapy.

Beginning in the second half of this year, the expansion of operating rooms and related remodeling projects will be carried out to further enhance surgical capacity. In addition, AMC Cheongna, which will serve as a key driver of Asan Medical Center’s sustainable growth, broke ground at the end of last year and will enter a phase of full scale construction starting this year.

In October, Asan Medical Center will take its first step in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with the opening of Asan GI Specialty Hospital. Eleven medical professionals will be dispatched to lead the delivery of care and prevention for gastrointestinal cancers and severe obesity, as well as to provide education and training for local healthcare professionals. Through this initiative, we will establish a strong and responsible presence for the Asan Medical Center brand in the Middle East, representing the highest standards of medical excellence.

 

AI driven innovation has already become deeply embedded in our daily operations. Centered on the newly established Office of AI Innovation Support, we will rigorously evaluate the clinical applicability of emerging AI technologies and actively adopt those with clear value. We are also building an Integrated Data Platform (IDP) to securely manage vast volumes of medical data within a unified structure and to generate high value outcomes through advanced analysis and utilization. As a core infrastructure for user driven data innovation and optimization, this platform will enable a fast and secure research environment powered by big data and AI, fostering more active data based research. In parallel, we will implement network separation across clinical, research, and internet environments to further strengthen the safety and security of care and research. Innovation through AI will extend beyond technical tools to redefine workflows and capabilities across the hospital, opening new possibilities grounded in prediction and automation.

 

 

A Culture of Communication and Collaboration

Last year, the Asan Medical Center marked a milestone by successfully performing the first surgery of its kind in Korea on a newborn born without a complete sternum and with defects in the skin and soft tissues of the chest and abdomen, leaving the heart beating outside the body. A multidisciplinary medical team involving specialists in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology, the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the Department of Plastic Surgery, the Division of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Department of Convergence Medicine of Asan Medical Center created space within the thoracic cavity and repositioned the heart inside, followed by chest wall reconstruction using cultured skin and a protective structure developed with 3D printing technology. This achievement stands as a powerful example of extraordinary collaboration dedicated to saving a single life.

Many of the challenges we face, extending beyond the clinical realm, require a foundation of a collaborative organizational culture. A workplace where consideration, empathy, and respect are alive and breathing, and where even a simple word of encouragement or a minor improvement is acknowledged and shared, will drive the Asan Medical Center to become more dynamic. There is a saying, “True innovation arises not from creating something new, but from seeing the familiar through a fresh lens.” We are committed to establishing a system where professionals from all fields can fully immerse themselves in their work and seize opportunities for growth. This will be achieved by fostering an attitude that views existing systems and processes from different angles, dismantling barriers to communication, and creating a collaborative environment where even the smallest suggestions are swiftly reflected.

If we approach every endeavor with a beautiful heart dedicated to others and persist with efforts that are second to none, we will undoubtedly achieve success. Let us step forward into the future together, renewing our pride as members of Asan Medical Center within an organizational culture filled with vitality and vibrant energy.

 

 

Wishing you a 2026 filled with recovery and bold new strides.

May it be a year of healthy growth and collective accomplishments.

Thank you.