Discussion on ESG Management Directions, including Environmental Protection, Social Responsibility, and Transparent Governance

“We will continue to explore ways to promote mutual growth and shared development with the local community and the medical sector.”

• ▲Asan Medical Center ESG Committee recently held its first meeting to discuss ESG management directions.

• Asan Medical Center recently announced that it has established an ESG Committee for the first time among domestic general hospitals in order to promote mutual growth with the local community and the medical sector, and to develop strategies for sustainable development since 2021.

   

  ESG, an acronym for Environmental, Social, and Governance factors, refers to non-financial elements of an organization that have recently emerged as essential conditions for sustainable development.

   

  On May 21, 2021, the Asan Medical Center ESG Committee held its first meeting in the Executive Conference Room to discuss ESG management directions, beginning with a special lecture titled “Healthcare Institutions and ESG” by Professor Hwa-Jin Kim of Seoul National University School of Law.

   

  To establish sustainable ESG management policies, Asan Medical Center appointed six internal members, including Je-Hwan Lee, Chair of Asan Medical Center’s ESG Committee and Vice President & Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Asan Medical Center, as well as three external members: Professor Hung-Suck Park of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Ulsan, Professor Jaeeun Seok of the Division of Social Welfare at Hallym University, and CEO Myung Joo Choi of Mia & Consulting.

   

  Through the ESG Committee, Asan Medical Center plans to continuously advance environmental management, social responsibility, and transparent governance.

   

  Under the founding philosophy of the Asan Foundation to “help the most vulnerable members of society,” Asan Medical Center, affiliated with the Asan Foundation, has served since its opening in 1989 as a “quaternary care hospital” that is most frequently visited by critically ill patients referred after treatment has been discontinued at other tertiary hospitals.

   

  In particular, its expertise in major disease areas such as organ transplantation, cardiology, and cancer is globally recognized. In the Newsweek “World’s Best Hospitals 2021” survey, Asan Medical Center ranked first in Korea and was also highly evaluated among the world’s top institutions, ranking 4th in endocrinology, 6th in gastroenterology, 7th in oncology, and 8th in neurology, thereby contributing to raising the global standing of Korean medicine.

   

  Over the past decade, Asan Medical Center has trained more than 3,600 international medical professionals from over 90 countries, including the United States, Germany, China, and Saudi Arabia, in advanced medical technologies. It also continues the “Asan in Asia” project, which transfers highly advanced medical techniques such as living donor liver transplantation to medically under-resourced countries in Asia, including Mongolia and Vietnam.

   

  Based on these achievements, Asan Medical Center was selected for the 15th consecutive year in March as “Korea’s Most Admired Hospital,” receiving high evaluations in areas such as social contribution, environmentally friendly management, and corporate trustworthiness.

   

  In addition, in order to establish a proper healthcare delivery system and foster a sustainable medical ecosystem, Asan Medical Center established Korea’s first Referral and Collaboration Center in 1995, which continues to operate today.

   

  The Asan Foundation, which operates Asan Medical Center, has since its establishment in 1977 provided a total of 275.3 billion KRW over 44 years through 2020 to support the advancement of society and the promotion of public welfare. Its initiatives include medical welfare programs such as financial support for low income patients’ medical expenses; social welfare programs providing emergency living assistance for vulnerable groups in local communities; scholarship programs supporting the education of low income university students; academic research funding for projects essential to social development; the Asan Award, which promotes a culture of service and sharing; and the Asan Award in Medicine, which honors physician scientists in Basic and Clinical Medicine categories.

   

  In addition, Asan Medical Center has made continued efforts in environmentally friendly management, including the installation of solar power generation facilities and the reduction of carbon emissions. It has also worked to strengthen transparent governance by operating an Office for Ethical Management and organizing its board of directors with experts from diverse fields.

   

  Professor Hwa-Jin Kim of Seoul National University School of Law stated in his special lecture that “Founder Chung Ju-yung had already expressed the core ESG principle that ‘people are the foundation of everything’ during the press conference announcing the establishment of the Asan Foundation in 1977.” He added that the 44 year history of the Asan Foundation, and the 32 year history of Asan Medical Center, can be viewed as ESG activities in themselves, and expressed his hope that environmental responsibility, social contribution, and transparent governance will now be further advanced in a more systematic manner within the ESG framework.

   

  Je-Hwan Lee, Chair of Asan Medical Center’s ESG Committee and Vice President & Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Asan Medical Center, stated that “Asan Medical Center, which has upheld the spirit of respect for life and the founding philosophy of the Asan Foundation to help the most vulnerable members of society, will continue to promote ESG management while fulfilling its role as a quaternary care hospital in patient care, education, research, and shared growth, and will actively seek ways to achieve mutual development with the local community.”