Only 14 out of the more than 1,000 long-term care facilities in the nation are ranked as first-rate institutions by the government, Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong superintendent Chen Yong-shing (陳永興) said yesterday, citing a government study.
According to a 2010 evaluation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior, only 1 percent of the 1,033 nursing homes or long-term care facilities in Taiwan are rated as excellent, Chen said, adding that the average waiting time for a bed in these institutions is three months.
He said a shortage of certified long-term carers and nurses was the main cause of the low quality of these facilities and prevented them from improving their services.
Chen called on the government to solve the problem by enacting measures such as amending laws to encourage or require corporations to invest in long-term care facilities or establishing a mechanism to offer financial aid to medical students who decided to enter the field.
“In Yilan County, there were 299 new nurses in one year, but 209 left the workforce during the same time,” he said. “For instance, Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong [in the county’s Luodong Township (羅東)] is 89 nurses short, 21 percent of the total number of nurses it needs. At one time, more staff were quitting than being hired.”
The shortage has had a domino effect on the hospital’s hospice rooms, with “seven beds closed due to a lack of nurses,” Chen said.
Long-term carers are in high demand as well. The Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training trains about 6,000 long-term carers every year, but the turnover rate is as high as 70 percent, he said.
“A lot of nurses and carers leave due to a stressful and poorly equipped work environment and low salary,” Chen said, urging the new Ministry of Health and Welfare to pass the long-term care services draft act to improve the quality of healthcare services for the rapidly growing elderly population.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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