National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday held a ceremony for the construction of its cancer center in Taipei, which is planned to be completed in 2017 and begin operating in 2018.
The ceremony, held at the construction site on Keelung Road near NTU’s main campus, was hosted by university president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池) and YongLin Healthcare Foundation founder and Hon Hai Precision Industry co-chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘).
NTU and YongLin signed a donation contract on Dec. 19, 2008, which was an agreement that the foundation would fund and cooperate with NTU to construct a cancer center to provide world-class treatment and personalized medical services, the university said.
During the ceremony, Yang said Gou’s donation was the largest the university has ever received and that he is confident the cancer center will be completed on schedule.
Gou said two-thirds of the center is already completed and that funding is not a problem if there is the need for more to help cancer patients.
“We hope to recruit masters in treating cancer or other diseases to come and join [the cancer center], because we are determined to uphold our goal of becoming one of the best cancer hospitals in the world,” Gou said.
He said that while many doctors left oncology due to a lack of funding, he hopes to attract doctors to the cancer center who want to practice their expertise and contribute to improving health.
NTU said that the cancer center would have 15 stories above ground and four below — including a stem cell treatment center, preventive medicine center, outpatient department and research laboratories.
The goal is to create an advanced bio-medical science and technology park at the NTU campus.
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