Chonnam National University Bitgoeul Hospital

Rheumatoid？degenerative arthritis specialized center A 5-story building in Nodae-dong Health Town for the Elderly Geriatric health improvement ？ regional medical service improvement expected Bitgoeul Joint Center, a rheumatoid & degenerative arthritis specialized center of Chonnam National University Hospital, will be opened in September at the Health Town for the Elderly in Nodae-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju. The Bitgoeul Joint Center was selected as a target hospital for the regional specialized disease center establishment project in 2008 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and will be revealed in 5 years. The center has the building area of 4,746㎡ and the total ground area of 32,814㎡, with 5 stories above and 3 stories below the ground accommodating 216 beds. It is expected that the opening of Bitgoeul Joint Center will give a boost to health improvement of local residents and medical service improvement. Particularly, it will play an important role as a guard for geriatric health including degenerative arthritis in the Honam region, considering the regional characteristics as agricultural province and with high population of the elderly. Thus, Chonnam National University Hospital, with Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Chonnam National University Dental Hospital, and Bitgoeul Joint Center, will establish a full-scale multi-hospital system by specialized diseases. In the center, a total of 11 departments including major medical departments (rheumatology, orthopedics, rehabilitation medicine, anesthesiology and pain medicine) and joint medical departments (gastroenterology, cardiology, nephrology), and supporting departments (radiology, laboratory medicine, pathology), and preventive medicine will be established. The characteristics of Bitgoeul Joint Center include good accessibility due to relatively smooth traffic flow and its location outside the downtown area, and natural conditions with beautiful surrounding scenery. It is literally a nature-friendly hospital, considering the construction plan for large-scale arboretum by the city of Gwangju in the future. Also, the external wall of the building is made of glass walls for natural lighting, and it is particularly designed to make sunlight shining through the center of the building.