70 Pct of Hospitals near Fukushima N-Plant Bleeding Red

September 10, 2018

Fukushima- Some 70 pct of medical institutions near Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s  disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station are operating in the red after restarting services, in the face of lower patient numbers and mounting labor costs. The number of patients per day at Tomioka Chuo Iin, a clinic in the town of Tomioka in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, has declined to some one-10th from the level before the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the triple meltdown at the TEPCO plant. A nuclear evacuation order was lifted for many areas in the town in April last year. "We can't continue without financial assistance," said Akira Isaka, the 78-year-old head of the clinic. According to the Fukushima prefectural government, there were some 100 medical institutions in 12 municipalities around the nuclear power station before the accident, but the figure had fallen to 31 as of the end of last month. In areas where evacuation orders were lifted, "we need to look at supply and demand when preparing medical services," Isaka said. Local residents are seeking sufficient medical services, according to surveys by the Reconstruction Agency and local governments. With multiple answers allowed, the share of households which cited better medical services as what they need in their lives stood at 68.5 pct in Tomioka and 78.7 pct in Namie, another Fukushima town close to the nuclear plant. Many evacuees say that they plan to make decisions on whether to return to their hometowns by taking into account, among other things, if medical and nursing care services have resumed and if satisfactory levels of services are available. But some 70 pct of medical institutions that resumed services receive financial assistance as they cannot make ends meet by themselves. An outflow of medical workers for evacuation after the nuclear disaster has made it difficult for hospitals and clinics to secure employees unless they offer good salaries and work conditions. They have also been hit by decreases in patients reflecting high vacancy rates in areas where evacuation orders were lifted. As there are many elderly residents in these areas, a need for home health care and rehabilitation is expected to increase. "A big challenge is who will take care of elderly people," Isaka said. Previously, younger generations joined hands to look after elderly people in their communities, but the situation has changed now, he said. The Fukushima government has set up a 24-hour emergency hospital in Tomioka while continuing financial and other assistance for existing medical institutions near the nuclear plant that resume services. "We've projected that there won't be many patients, and how to help local medical institutions stabilize their operations is a hurdle we need to clear," a Fukushima government official said, indicating plans to work with a public-private team that is working to assist businesses affected by the natural and nuclear disasters getting back on their feet. Jiji Press