Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) was flown to Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital yesterday after sustaining injuries to her lower back in a fall early in the morning.
Greater Kaohsiung Information Bureau Director-General Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said Chen had led a delegation to the International Folklore and Folk Game Festival at Dongshan River Park in Yilan County on Saturday.
Chen spent the night at the Evergreen Resort Hotel in Jiaosi (礁溪) and was expected to return to Greater Kaohsiung yesterday morning, but she slipped in the bathroom and injured her lumbar region.
Photo: CNA
While Chen is hospitalized, Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) will assume responsibility for the day-to-day management and operations of the city, and administration will not be affected, Lai said.
Asked who would take responsibility for the fall, given the hotel’s reputation as a five-star establishment, Lai said the hotel would provide an explanation, adding that Chen would cover all medical expenses.
Ho Chi-kung (何啟功), director-general of the Greater Kaohsiung Department of Health, said he received a call from Chen at 6:17am saying she had slipped and fallen in the hotel bathroom and was unable to move.
Ho then contacted the Yilan County Bureau of Health to assist with Chen’s hospitalization, he said.
Chen was admitted to the emergency room at National Yang-Ming University Hospital, where nuclear magnetic resonance and CAT scans confirmed she had fractured her first lumbar vertebra, Ho said.
The injury did not harm Chen’s spinal cord nerves, Ho said, adding that after the Yang-Ming hospital was sure Chen could safely be transferred to another hospital, she was flown to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and then flown to Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital.
Chen was conscious throughout, but to ensure she did not exacerbate her injuries she was confined to a gurney, Ho said.
The mayor will likely be released from hospital in 10 to 14 days, he said, adding that she would have to wear a brace.
This is the third time Chen has been hospitalized since becoming mayor of Kaohsiung in December 2006.
In early June, she was admitted with acute pyelonephritis and hospitalized for a week. In April 2007, she was hospitalized for 45 days after suffering a minor stroke.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source