Starting from next January, medical facilities designated as "tertiary" hospitals must have around-the-clock inpatient treatment systems in their pediatrics as well as obstetrics and gynecology(OB-GYN) departments.

The health ministry on Tuesday unveiled revised standards for the designation prior to releasing the list of such hospitals for the 2024 to 2026 period.

Tertiary hospitals are medical institutions that specialize in providing a high level of medical treatment for serious diseases.

The revision comes amid concerns that the basis of treatment in pediatrics and OB-GYN is weakening amid a drop in demand and in medical professionals shying away from such fields due to the nation’s declining birthrate.

A medical institution will lose its designation as a tertiary hospital if it fails to provide inpatient care systems at all times in their pediatrics and OB-GYN departments.

The government previously named a total of 45 institutions as tertiary hospitals for the period between 2021 and 2023.