Sue Ahn, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Korea, observes a young patient at RMHC Yangsan House in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, in September 2023. Next to Ahn is Jeffrey Jones, chairman of RMHC Korea. Courtesy of RMHC Korea
RMHC Korea President and CEO Sue Ahn
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Korea is set to open its first residential facility in Seoul dedicated to families of pediatric patients. This new facility will provide much-needed relief for caretakers who travel from across the country to support hospitalized children, often without sufficient lodging arrangements or budgets, according to its senior official.
Sue Ahn, president & CEO of RMHC Korea, envisions the new facility as a high-quality shared residence for many children facing serious illnesses and their caregivers. In Korea, caretakers of hospitalized children often endure challenging conditions, spending long hours or nights on small cots stored under hospital beds or in chairs in crowded common rooms. By offering free accommodations, the new RMHC Seoul House will provide a dignified, comfortable space, easing the burden on families in need.
The expansion also highlights the serious challenges faced in regions outside Korea's capital, where many residents lack trust in local healthcare quality and often travel to Seoul in search of better medical care.
Ahn is currently evaluating five potential locations in Seoul for the new facility, with four situated within major university hospitals that include prominent children's hospitals. The final selection will be announced at a gala in December celebrating the 50th anniversary of RMHC's global operations.
The new facility in Seoul will expand RMHC Korea's current presence, which so far includes only one location in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. Ahn noted that the Seoul house will be significantly larger, offering more rooms and greater capacity than the Yangsan facility, which currently has 10 suites to accommodate patients and their caregivers.
“We're expecting at least 50 to 70 rooms and upwards of well over 100,” Ahn said during an interview with The Korea Times.
“You cannot just build it and hope they come. This is a facility that deals with very sick children suffering from brain and neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, leukemia or rare diseases and we've got to manage it right, making sure we have the right people working to implement our programs. Not just willy-nilly asking ‘Hey, does this work?'”
Establishing the planned Seoul house required a series of agreements between RMHC Korea Chairman Jeffrey Jones and the Korean government. Jones, who also serves as chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea Foundation, began discussions with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, which led to follow-up meetings with the Ministry of Education. The ministry then introduced Jones to major university hospitals with the highest volumes of pediatric patients in Korea.
RMHC Korea's Yangsan House in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang / Courtesy of RMHC Korea
“If there'll be over 120 rooms at Seoul house, construction will take about three years,” Ahn said. “Establishing an RMHC house requires substantial resources, particularly securing a suitable plot of land near a major children's hospital. Currently, limited land availability near these hospitals has posed a challenge to opening a house in the capital.”
RMHC Korea
RMHC launched Yangsan House in 2021, which has since provided support to over 390 patient groups, totaling 8,570 days of assistance. With financial contributions from 176 corporate sponsors and more than 1,230 individual donors, the house is currently operated by over 290 volunteers who have collectively dedicated more than 16,500 hours of service.
“Our volunteer base is the largest among all RMHC houses across the 62 countries where we operate,” Ahn said.
Located within Pusan National University Children's Hospital, RMHC's partner medical institution, the house accepts patients and their family members referred by the health care facility. Referrals are based on factors such as the child's medical condition, severity of illness, treatment duration, outpatient frequency, family circumstances and geographical distance. The house has gained popularity, and those wishing to stay must sign up early to secure a spot.
RMHC was able to launch the Yangsan House with support from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which donated the land. Jones played a crucial role in securing corporate donations to fund the house's operations, offering donors business networking opportunities with American companies. As he put it, it's a “win-win deal,” according to Ahn.
While operating Yangsan House, Ahn and Jones have been exploring ways to open another facility in Seoul, a megacity that draws many sick patients and their caregivers. Through their experience running Yangsan House, they have gained valuable insights into managing a localized shared housing model for patients and their families. With this expertise, they are now confident and ready to expand their efforts to the capital.
“There's data that shows close to 800,000 people come to Seoul each year to get treated at the top five hospitals. The figure is staggering,” Ahn said.
“Without a place to go, they end up sleeping out of the lobby areas of intensive care units. Oftentimes they even forfeit treatments if they cannot find a doctor. If they do find a doctor, they do whatever they can and sleep out of their cars. That's a very common story of the families that we deal with. So we find it necessary to build a house to cater to the greatest population of families in need so that we can get them a comfortable place to stay, a place to be dignified.”