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NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and Hallym University Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, have entered into an affiliation agreement to begin a unique international collaboration to enhance patient care, clinical and biomedical research, medical education, and training. The international four-way affiliation grows out of an existing clinical and research relationship between Hallym and Columbia University.

"This occasion marks an important milestone for our respective institutions, with an agreement to undertake unprecedented medical and scientific collaboration between Korea and the United States," says Dr. Herbert Pardes, president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The agreement is the first international medical affiliation of its kind in Korea.

Central to the affiliation agreement is the exchange of medical expertise. Physicians and scientists from Hallym will train in New York and vice versa. The medical centers will also engage in joint research and help each other better serve the Korean population in the U.S. and South Korea.

"In undertaking this international collaboration, Hallym, NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia and Weill Cornell are taking significant and positive steps towards the globalization of health care," says Dr. Dai-Won Yoon, chairman of the Ilsong Educational Foundation, Hallym's parent company. "We look forward to this opportunity for new collaborations with our partners in New York; we fully expect that our joint efforts will benefit patients in our local communities and throughout the world."

The largest private healthcare system in South Korea, Hallym University Medical Center comprises five hospitals, 4,600 physicians, and 3,162 beds. In 2003, Hallym treated 95,000 inpatient discharges and 1.8 million outpatients.

"Today's medical challenges are not isolated within national or continental borders and neither should be the research and education that is addressing these global health issues," says Dr. Gerald Fischbach, executive vice president of Columbia University Medical Center and dean of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. "Through global collaborations like this one, we have the power to bring together the greatest minds in the world to eradicate diseases, address policy issues and improve the lives of people everywhere."

"Building a medical and scientific bridge between the U.S. and Korea offers unique opportunities to enhance health care for diverse patient populations, and for fostering new initiatives across the spectrum of academic medicine, including clinical trials, international medicine, national health-care policy, outcomes research, and continuing medical education," says Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College.

"Our four institutions share the highest commitment to providing the best care for our patients – as well as the best training for physicians through our residency programs for graduate medical education," says Dr. Kwang-Hack Lee, director of Hallym University Medical Center and vice president of medical affairs at Hallym University. "Patients served by Hallym and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital will receive the benefits of this collaboration in many important areas, including increased opportunities in research and ongoing development of the best clinical practices."

Hallym University Medical Center

As one of the leading private, not-for-profit, medical institutions in Korea, Hallym University Medical Center has 3,200 beds, 4,600 health care professionals, and 430 appointed faculty physicians, incorporating a university affiliated medical school with five major general teaching hospitals: Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, all in metropolitan Seoul; Hallym Sacred Heart Hospital, the newest and largest, in the suburb of Seoul; and Chunchon Sacred Heart Hospital in the city of Chunchon, where the medical school is located. Other research institutes, social welfare centers, long-term care facilities, and outpatient clinics, are also in active service. In three decades since its inception, Hallym is Korea's fastest growing academic medical center and its medical school was ranked among the top ten in the country by the Joon-Ang Daily, one of Korea's leading newspapers.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is the largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital in the U.S. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, the Allen Pavilion, and the Westchester Division. It consistently ranks as one of the top hospitals in the country in U.S.News & World Report's guide to "America's Best Hospitals." The NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System – an affiliation of acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutes – serves one in four patients in the New York

Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, medical education, and health care. The medical center trains future leaders in health care and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and other health professionals at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the School of Dental & Oral Surgery, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Backed by a strong history of discovery in health care, its researchers are leading the development of novel therapies and advances to address a the most urgent health concerns of our time.

Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Founded in 1898, Weill Cornell Medical College, one of two major academic affiliates of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, has long ranked among the leading medical schools in the U.S. From the start, the Medical College has followed an educational philosophy that emphasizes the importance of combining a strong basic foundation in the medical sciences with extensive clinical training in patient care.

Weill Cornell physicians and scientists are engaged in both basic and clinical research in the cutting-edge areas of genetics and gene therapy, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, AIDS, cancer, and psychiatry, among many others. Weill Cornell's biomedical investigators are delving ever deeper into the realms of cellular and molecular biology, which hold the secrets both to the normal functioning of the body and the malfunctions that lead to serious medical disorders.

In 2001, Cornell University established the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, becoming the first American university to establish a medical school branch outside the United States. With the same admissions and academic standards of the Medical College in New York, Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar will confer Cornell University's M.D. degree to its first graduating class in 2008.