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PFP lawmaker to lead medical team on cross-strait trip

Taiwanese doctors may be able to practice in hospitals in China as early as March, PFP Legislator Kao Ming-chien (高明見) said yesterday.

The lawmaker told the Taipei Times that he will lead a group of 132 medical personnel to Xiamen and Fuzhou, Fujian Province, via the "small three links" on Feb. 17 to sign agreements with two hospitals there to allow Taiwan's doctors to provide medical care to Taiwanese businessmen.

"If everything goes smoothly, I think as early as March, Taiwan's doctors will be able to practice in Chinese hospitals to provide medical care to Taiwanese businessmen and their families living there," Kao said.

Kao, a doctor himself, said his group, a majority of whom are from the Taiwan Medical Affairs Alliance, will sign agreements with Xiamen's Zhongshan Hospital (中山醫院) and Fujian's Fuzhou Hospital (福州醫院) to allow Taiwan doctors to provide outpatient services in the first stage of his plan.

He stressed that the Tai-wanese doctors involved were volunteers who would receive no remuneration for their contribution and would be giving up their holidays to travel to China for the purpose.

He explained that, in the initial stage, the service would be limited to about two doctors a week serving in each hospital for a week at a time.

"Patients will pay the Chinese hospitals for their treatment. That's why the hospitals agreed to cooperate with us," Kao said.

Taiwanese businessmen would not be reimbursed from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program, meaning their services in China would not squeeze Taiwan's medical resources, he said.

According to Kao, the plan will be expanded to Shanghai and Shenzhen by signing similar agreements.

"We have negotiated with hospitals there several times. But some details still need to be work out," Kao said.

Taiwanese citizens residing in China or visiting the country have been long complained about the poor quality of medical services in China. Once they get sick there, many come back to Taiwan for medical treatment, which is inconvenient.

But officials from the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday that Taiwan's medical personnel remain barred from practicing in China.

MAC Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said that a draft administrative regulation aimed at allowing Taiwanese medical personnel to practice in China has not yet been approved by the Executive Yuan and he was giving nothing away about when it might be given the green light.

"We have known that the group is going to China to make preparations. But they will be legally entitled to do so only after the measure has been approved and promulgated," Chen said.
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