The government will set up a hospital near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that will target foreign visitors and wealthy local patients to combat China’s aggressive campaign to recruit Taiwanese doctors, a health official said yesterday.
The Department of Health (DOH) said many Taiwanese hospitals and doctors could move out of the country in the next five years if measures are not taken to counter China’s recruitment campaign under its new five-year development plan to build a national medical network.
The DOH has therefore promoted the idea of “importing” patients and creating a special hospital that would be allowed to run as a for-profit business.
The hospital would not be permitted to use national insurance program resources and would be required to contribute 20 percent of its profits to the national insurance program, said Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), director of the department’s Bureau of Medical Affairs.
The department originally planned to build the hospital at the Hsinchu Biomedical Service Park, but the plan was not welcomed by local professionals, who favored the establishment of a critical care center, Shih said.
Instead, the Taoyuan Aerotropolis — a development project that includes Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, a free-trade zone, a coastal recreation zone and an exhibition park — welcomed the plan, the official said.
The department will begin encouraging local companies to bid for the hospital project in partnership with international hospitals in about six months.
Shih said there was a market for two more international medical companies in Taiwan, with the Kinmen County Government and the medical sector in Greater Kaohsiung having expressed interest.
However, opponents of the initiative argue that medical professionals trained with national resources should not be encouraged to serve only foreigners and the wealthy.
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