Presentation
Health and Wellness in Gangneung .
Olga Sosnovskikh, Almaty-Seoul-Gangneung-AlmatyIn July 2011, the South African city of Durban, the International Olympic Committee declared the capital of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games-the South Korean city of Pyeongchang. Seven types of winter sports, out of 15 winter sport disciplines will be demonstrated in Pyeongchang. They include themountain skiing and ski, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboard, bobsleigh, skeleton, sledding and biathlon. All the competitions on ice surface within the frameworks of 2018 Winter Olympic Games (curling, ice hockey, speed skating, short track and figure skating), will be held in the South Korean city of Gangneung.
Gangneung city is located on the shore of the Japan sea and it is adjacent to the eastern slopes of the mountains Thèbèksan. Human settlement in the territory of the modern city are known since the reign of Wiman Joseon (194-108 BC). 100 years ago it was the agricultural region, whose inhabitants were mostly the tea cultivators. Only 30 years ago the town started developing its tourism, which occupied now a market share of 35%.
Gangneung can be proud of its rich history and traditions. Each spring, few days before the 5 th day of 5 month of the lunar calendar, the Festival is held in the town of Tano, which is part of the world's intangible cultural heritage and helps to get to know and understand the traditional culture of Korea. An integral part of the Festival are performances with masks, shamanic dances and ceremonies. The Festival offers a wide range of activities, including riding on a swing, fight and other traditional national games. In addition, the Festival attracts the creative teams from other countries.
One of the most distinctive features of the town is a coastline of about 50 km, with its white-sand beaches that attract the fans of summer activities. At the same time Gangneung holds its famous Arts Festival on the beach Keungpo with the "Black Eagles" air show, summer concerts, international youth rock festival.
With the onset of autumn the people harvest the coffee. This previously unknown drink became so popular in Korea that every October Gangneung is a place for the Coffee Festival that gathers the country's most famous baristas on the shores of the azure sea. And in the Museum of coffee, you can not only get acquainted with the history of coffee, admire the coffee trees, but also learn how to roast the beans, which can then taken home by yourselves, and the aroma that will long continue to remind of this unforgettable place.
With the arrival of winter, the mountains surrounding the city, are covered by snow, and Gangneung is filled with the lovers of winter sports. The city is called a Mecca for winter sports. In fact, all the famous athletes, representing South Korea at the international sporting events, including the famous six-time Olympic gold medalist in short-track Victor An, who has a Russian citizenship now. Therefore, Gangneung was chosen for the construction of stadiums,for the further ice Olympic sports.
Despite the fact that there are no large stadiums for the workouts, the specialists are working and living here, making all efforts to raise such great athletes. Not only the permanent regular workouts at the gym are required for the athlete success, but also the main physical indicators that should be normal and healthy. By creating this basis, they can move forward their victories.
The pride of Gangneung are the clean air, clean water, organic food, pine groves and the sea. All this creates an environment, which can not be seen anywhere else in Korea. And this is the initial condition for the future champions. All strategic training and all the workouts are held outdoors in Gangneung. And only after the athletes achieved results on their physical preparation, they are sent for training to Seoul.
In Gangneung the athletes can visit the best medical centers, such as Gangneung Assan hospital and Dongin. The high status of the clinics is proven by the fact that in 1998 the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Korea assigned the Gangneung Asan Medical Center as a responsible hospital during the winter Asian Games in 2014, and also for the year of 2018-the year of Olympic Games to be held in Pyeongchangin.
Gangneung’s Assan Medical Center:
As the medical centre Gangneung, the Gangneung Asan hospital was opened in 1996 by Assan Foundation, established by the Hyundai Corporation. "Assan is a large Fund, which has a network of clinics across the country. Assan Medical Center in Seoul is considered one of the best. According to the results of research for 2014 year held in South Korea, Assan clinic took the first place, due to number of organ transplantations.
The subdivision of Gangneung is the second most important. Despite the fact that it is far away from the capital, its technical equipment, qualifications of physicians correspond to the major hospitals of Seoul. If the doctors from Gangneung Assan find it difficult to help their patients, they join forces with the doctors of Seoul-based Assan clinic. Depending on the case, the doctors come either from there or the patient is transported for treatment to Seoul.
Gangneung’s Assan Medical Center has the following specialized centres: Health Medical Center, Cancer Center, Center for Digestive Diseases, Center for Cardiovascular Pathology, Center for Organ Transplantation, Center for Orthopaedics, Spine Center, Dermatological and Cosmetic Surgery Center, Center for Emergency Medical Care. The hospital is proud of its Oncology Center. Nine medical teams that work together, ensure the integrated & highly professional treatment for the patients with oncology deceases. Organ Transplantation Center is one of the best in South Korea.
To ensure that foreign citizens can take advantage of the clinic, there are certain procedures. Initially, the Medical Center should get all the preliminary survey and the opinion of the doctors from the patient’s native country. After that, the patient is informed that he can do in the clinic, for example, surgery or treatment. But there are times when one needs to come to the Gangneung Assan and have the additional diagnostics. And depending on the case, the Coordinator shall inform the patient when he or she can arrive.
Information is available 24 hrs per day. Russian-speaking patients get a coordinator who takes full responsibility for the patients, meeting them at the airport, accompanying them to the doctor’s consultations, etc. All costs of the translator& coordinator are paid by Assan clinic. Korean, European and Russian menu are available during the hospitalization, depending on the patient’s preferences. At Assan clinic, the patients has the A and B luxury rooms, one-, two-, three-and six-bed rooms. The person, accompanying the patient, can stay in the hospital, and this applies to any room, from the "Suite" to the room for six persons. A folding bed is provided, maybe it's not exactly comfortable, but nevertheless, this service is available if desired.
The patients and accompanying persons who want to settle outside the clinic, can find a large selection of hotels in the city. It can be also the resort complex "Lakai Sand Pine", from where you can enjoy the views of the East Sea, beach and Lake of Keungpo. Or the resort complex "San Cruz", made in the form of a white liner, heading toward the sea.
This complex is the world's first theme resort, located on the shore rock off the coast of Jeongdonjin -the most popular place in Korea for seeing the sunrise, which is visible from any point of the beautiful mountains and boundless sea. "Lakai sand pine" and "San Cruz" have the condominium and hotel-type rooms. The complexes have an outdoor pool, a fitness centre, a sauna, a café, a restaurant, a games room, shops, golf course and much more. Personal Coordinator of Gangneung Assan clinic will help you to choose and book any hotel, according to the preferences of their patients-from small family hotels to large hotel complexes.
Gangneung’s Asan Medical Center:
telephone: +82-33-610-2761/62;
fax:: +82-33-610-2769;
Dongin Medical Center:
Dongin Medical Center was built in 1965 and by 1983 it was registered as a general medical hospital. In 2001, the Company signed an agreement on cooperation with the Samsung Medical Center; in 2009 year it was registered as a medical organization to attract the foreign patients. In the same year, Dongin started to attract the patients from Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. The center signed a business cooperation agreement with the Municipal Hospital No. 1, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Eastern Kazakhstan.
Dongin clinic is equipped with the newest medical equipment. The hospital created a number of specialized centers, which are now widely promoted for the medical tourism programs: Spinal Center, Center for cardiovascular diseases (there are three Russian-speaking doctors), Oriental medicine, Gastroenterology Center, Rehabilitation Center, Diagnostic Center (in the center everything is marked in Russian to make it easy for the patients from the Russian-speaking countries).
Basic diagnostics program takes about 2 hours. Dongin clinic hires the doctors that previously occupied the post of Chief physicians in various hospitals in Seoul (Samsung clinic, other university hospitals). It concerns the physician-gastroenterologist, cardiologist and neurosurgeon. Among the employees of Cardiovascular Center, ready to help at any time, there are cardiologists trained in the United States. The doctors of the Spinal Center made over 2000 successful operations. Dongin center provides a special service. This is a joint center for the Eastern and Western medicine. By combining two types of medicine, complementary to each other, they developed and improved the health survey and diagnostics.
In order to get to the hospital, the patient of Dongin shall address the hospital via e-mail or online coordinator, send their data, or medical history. After that the medical consultation shall be appointed. Airport transfers are available from the airport to the hospital. The patient is welcomed by a translator or an employee of the hospital. Due to availability of professional facilitators, knowing Russian language, the patients are feeling as at home, when staying in the clinic. Dongin centre developed a special program for the international patients.
For convenience, these patients are serviced by the coordinator, as well as provided with individual counselling. Additional services are provided at the arrival to the hospital. They include drafting the tourism programs in the city, hotel reservations and other services. In addition, patients and their families enjoy various cultural events. Using a patient data system, the hospital staff is ready to provide services at any time. The selection of menu is different for each patient. For example, the hospital has the rooms with a menu with Russian cuisine. After the patients left the clinic, the communication is being maintained with them. Dongin clinic have the assistance from the employees of travel agencies, public hospitals, education organizations of local governments to provide such conditions for the patients.
Medical Center «Dongin»:
telephone: +82 -33 -651 -6176
fax: +82-33-651-0580;
Why to choose Gangneung city for medical tourism? Medical tourism is not just the treatment of the disease, it is a part of tourism. It is possible to have a treatment in any major metropolis, for example, in Seoul, but it is impossible to fully recover the health. Gangneung is famous for its pine groves that provide the phytoncides, thereby, restoring and enhancing the human immune system. Recently, there are more and more cases of oncological deceases.
And often one operation is not enough and the decease might re-appear again. To prevent the re-curring cancer, the people need to go to areas with clean air, good food and perfectly suitable environment, which is, unfortunately, is not the case of big cities. And Gangneung is the right place to recuperate, to improve health and to get rid of the diseases, considered as incurable ones. Arriving in the city of Gangneung, you have a chance to recover physically from a disease, and also to strengthen your immune system and therefore, to prevent the sickness, to become healthy and happy.
Trip to the city of Gangneung was organized by Golden Tour Kazakhstan (www.goldentour.kz)
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