President Yoon Suk Yeol made a late-night visit to an emergency medical center on Wednesday and pledged to enhance support for essential medical services, as a growing number of hospitals warn of staff shortages in their emergency rooms.

Presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon said in a statement Wednesday that Yoon visited the Catholic University of Korea Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, the emergency medical center for northern Gyeonggi Province, around 8:50 p.m. Wednesday. 

Yoon pledged to drastically increase government support for essential medical services, as well as to reduce legal risks and increase compensation for health care workers.

His visit comes as Ajou University Hospital, the regional emergency medical center for southwestern Gyeonggi Province, is restricting services at emergency rooms every Thursday in response to staff shortages.

The short-staffing is the result of a protracted stalemate between the government and doctors’ groups over reform plans, and of the mass resignation of trainee doctors in February. 

Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, the regional emergency medical center for southwestern Seoul, will also limit its nighttime operating hours for emergency rooms every Wednesday. Three other hospitals in Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces have already begun restricting ER services. 

The presidential office also announced Thursday that it may dispatch senior-level presidential secretaries to emergency medical centers across the nation during the five-day Chuseok weekend, which starts September 14.