Interviews and speeches

Continued from Part 6: Hanyang University Hospital and trip to Busan

November 29, 2007

Just like the Shilla in Seoul, the Westin in Busan has a large pool that opens by 6 am. I had a good swim there and then had breakfast overlooking the water. I noticed some objects in the water, which at first I assumed to be debris or some kind of animals. As I watched some more it turned out to be swimmers. I counted about a dozen people swimming to shore --not sure where they started from. Some were wearing wet suits, others just regular bathing suits. The air temperature was about 45 or 50 degrees Fahrenheit and I have no idea about the water temp. Before trying this swim yourself you might want to check out whether it's safe. As Stephanie Sulger wandered around town sussing out the local environment she heard from an expat that there were some issues with pollution.

Our first stop in Busan was the Good Gang-An Hospital, a 400 bed general hospital that's less than three years old. They handle more or less everything, but vascular surgery seems to be an area of particular strength. Good Gang-An is part of a six hospital group, and we were told by the head of the International Medical Center, Woo Young Seo, MD, PhD that the hospitals are doing well economically despite a generally poor outlook for hospitals in the region. The building is very nice and has a sweeping view of Busan, including a new 7.4 km bridge, which we were told is the longest in Korea.