A Taipei City councilor yesterday accused the Armed Forces Peitou Hospital of beating a patient to death and turning a blind eye to a sex scandal that took place seven years ago.
The hospital dismissed the allegations and asked the councilor to present more substantial evidence.
The Armed Forces Peitou Hospital is a mental institution for both soldiers and civilians and currently houses about 500 patients.
Playing a taped conversation between himself and what he said was a former patient of the hospital, New Party city councilor James Wei (魏憶龍) told a press conference held at the city council yesterday morning that the hospital has been doing a poor job of managing the facility.
According to the former patient, whose name was not given, he saw a male patient and a female patient having sex in a men's room of the hospital in 1994.
"We'll pay closer attention to the sexual interaction between our patients. We'd also like to see more detailed information presented regarding this matter," said Yang Tsung-tsai (
Yang added that people suffering from mental illness often have strong sexual urges when they feel depressed or restless.
Waving pictures of another patient, Wei said that he suspected Chang Te-cheng (
"Look at the blood streaming down his face and the bruises inside his left thigh. It's obvious that he was beaten before his death," Wei said.
Chang checked into the hospital in 1982 where he remained for over 15 years until his death in June 1998. The official cause of death was cardio-pulmonary failure.
A retired nurse, surnamed Wang, who took care of Chang for about 12 years, dismissed Wei's allegation.
"Because he weighed about 107kg, it is very likely that he injured himself. Besides, the wound was not at all related to his death," she told the Taipei Times.
Wang added that money had motivated the Chang family to bring the case to the public's attention.
"He [Chang's second oldest brother] has more than once told us in private that he's tried to settle the matter out of court but to no avail," she said. "His decision to make the incident public probably has a lot to do with the hospital's refusal to pay him the large amount he's requested."
Yang also said that Chang's brother, Chang Te-ming (
On July 31, a military court ruled that the hospital was not liable for the death of Chang Te-cheng. The case is currently on appeal with the verdict scheduled to be announced within a month.
Arguing that the hospital should be held responsible for Chang's death, Wei produced a letter released by the Ministry of National Defense (
"If the hospital was not at fault, why on earth did the national defense ministry bother to discipline hospital personnel?" Wei said.
Yang, however, said that the disciplinary measures were handed out to those supervising the hospital's hygiene and environment.
Wei also showed pictures of patient wards littered with rubbish, equipped with rusty iron windows and dilapidated furniture with mouse traps sitting under broken mattresses and mildewing food.
"If this does not prove that the hospital is poorly managed, I don't know what does," Wei said.
Wang said that the pictures were originally taken by the hospital to request renovation funds from the national defense ministry.
"I don't know how they got out and into the hands of the councilor, but I highly suspect a retired hospital employee, who did not get promoted before his retirement in July, gave it to him," she said.
Wei led a group of reporters and TV cameramen last Friday to the hospital to highlight its filthy conditions and poor management.
He held another press conference on Monday wherein he accused the hospital of abusing its patients.
Wei plans to petition the Control Yuan today to begin an investigation into the case.
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