Dispatched from the US Presbyterian Church, the medical missionary Woodbridge O, Johnson opened Jaejungwon in a house located inside Jaeil Church in the Yakjun Street, introducing Western medicine to the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region.

In 1903, Jaejungwon relocated to Dongsandong, and led a public healthcare awareness campaign by providing treatment for endemic diseases and vaccination against smallpox, etc. as well as treatment of leprosy, which was widespread in Korea at the time, through a leprosy care center (currently known as Aerakwon) that opened in 1909. When the second director Archilbald G, Fletcher took office, Jaejungwon changed its name to Dongsan Hospital . Through its evangelist group formed in 1921, the hospital opened 147 churches and spread the gospel through medical service and mission in remote areas. The Christian practice of love, which was begun by using the funds raised among the staff who donated 1% of their salary, is continuing even today under the name of Dongsan Medical Missionary Society. The seventh director Howard F. Moffett who took office in 1949 actively conducted fundraisin in Korea and overseas, in order to expand the hospital and bring in new medical equipment, transforming Dongsan Hospital into a general medical center. In addition, the doctors and other medical staff were sent to study in medically advanced countries, which led to rapid development of the hospital’s medical service I nthe 1960s and 1970s.

Dongsan Hospital was merged with Keimyung University in 1980, and because Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center (DSMC) in 1982, in transforming into a medical institution that provided not only treatment and mission, but also education and research, based on its medical school, nursing school, Daegu Dongsan Hospital, and Gyeongju Dongsan Hospital. Established over 100 years ago by missionaries, DSMC has been repaying the debt of love through overseas medical volunteering since the 1990s in Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Nepal, Ethiopia, and other countries around the world.

Currently, Dongsan Medical Center is leading a new century of future medicine through its School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Dongsan Hospital, Daegu Dongsan Hospital and Gyoengju Dongsan Hospital.
In 2019, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital relocated to the new state-of-the-art smart hospital building on the main campus in Seongseo. It is one of the largest hospital in the area with 26 clinical departments, 1,012 beds and a total of 3,000 staff members.
The medical center is ranked 1st in various evaluations conducted by the government, and it operates a cardiocerebrovascular center, cancer cure center, and organ transplant center specialized in treating highly severe diseases. In addition, many international medical staffs are visiting Dongsan Hospital to learn advanced medical technology, contributing to promoting the Korea's medical services to the world.