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 About half of the 175 MERS cases in South Korea have been traced to
the Samsung Medical Center, tarnishing the image of one of the
country's most prestigious hospitals. The South Korean outbreak is
the largest outside Saudi Arabia, and 27 patients have died.
Jay Y. Lee, the only son of Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] patriarch Lee
Kun-hee, said the conglomerate would do everything it could to stop
the outbreak and revamp care at Samsung Medical Center, located in
Seoul's wealthy Gangnam district.
Lee Kun-hee has been hospitalized at the center since a heart attack
last year.
"Our Samsung Medical Center was unable to stop the MERS infection
and its spread, and caused too much suffering and concern to the
public. I bow my head in apology," the younger Lee said in rare
public remarks by the man set to lead South Korea's largest
family-run conglomerate, or chaebol.
"We have failed to live up to the expectation and trust of the
public," he said.
Lee had previously visited the hospital during the outbreak but did
not make a statement. The hospital's chief has also made public
apologies.
South Korea's MERS outbreak, traced to a businessman who returned
last month from the Middle East, has scared off tourists and dealt a
blow to the economy as consumers stay home.
Its health ministry said the outbreak appears to have leveled off,
with new infections reported in recent days in the low single
digits, including three on Tuesday.
Lee, who turned 47 on Tuesday, became vice chairman of group
flagship Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in 2012 and is expected to take
the reins of that company and the overall group.
"My father has been lying at this hospital for more than a year," he
said.
"I understand even to a small degree the worry and pain that
patients and their families have experienced," he said.
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Samsung Medical Center, which was founded in 1994, has been
criticized after it was revealed that a MERS patient had been in its
emergency ward for two-and-a-half days before being diagnosed,
coming into contact with nearly 900 people, including staff.
Such waits are not unusual at the most sought-after hospitals in
Seoul, where patients can wait days for a room to open, a local
custom that has been blamed by experts for exacerbating the
country's MERS outbreak.
The hospital later suspended most services when an emergency ward
orderly tested positive for the virus after working for a number of
days despite having symptoms and coming into contact with more than
200 people.
South Korea's health ministry said on Tuesday 54 people who had
tested positive for the virus have recovered and been discharged
from hospital.
Most of the 27 deaths in South Korea were elderly patients or people
who had existing illnesses.
(Additional reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Tony Munroe, Paul Tait
and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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