South Korea’s new St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital targets rare diseases

It aims to develop large-scale AI-based healthcare services.

South Korea’s Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital has launched St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital for the treatment of children and adolescents with severe and rare diseases.

The hospital’s key focus areas include developing large-scale artificial intelligence-based healthcare services in paediatric haematology-oncology, personalised T-cell therapy research, infectious disease response studies, and clinical trials.

It features a multidisciplinary system that provides care for conditions such as paediatric cancer, rare and refractory diseases, neonatal and prematurity-related disorders, and critical illnesses.

In addition, the facility operates a palliative care team for physical pain, emotional, and psychological well-being management.

The hospital also houses the Raphael Children's Hospital School for children at risk of learning gaps due to prolonged hospitalisation.