Hou Wu-chung (侯武忠), a doctor who spent his time touring outlying islands on his personal boat to provide medical assistance to underserved communities, passed away on Monday last week at the age of 55 after serving the Penghu community for over 20 years.
Hou in February discovered that he had pancreatic cancer. Despite seeking treatment at a hospital in Kaohsiung, Hou was unable to defeat the cancer.
The Penghu native dedicated the prime of his life to serving his hometown.
Photo taken from Hou Wu-chung’s Facebook page
After graduating from the Kaohsiung Medical University College of Medicine, Hou returned to Penghu. In his 20-year medical career, Hou spent most of his time serving the outlying islands of Wangan Township (望安), Cimei Township (七美), Baisha Township (白沙) and others, Penghu County Public Health Bureau Director-General Chen Shu-chuan (陳淑娟) said.
Hou was previously also chief of the Baisha Township Public Health Center.
Hou decided to purchase a boat with his own money after discovering that the strong northeasterly winds in Penghu often caused delays in commuter boat arrivals and that patients on outlying islands would sometimes have to wait days for doctors to arrive.
Recognizing that residents of the outlying islands were underserved as a healthcare population and not wanting especially for older patients to suffer, Hou spent half a year learning from an elderly captain how to navigate a boat and obtained his boating license. He traveled on his boat every week to visit patients and won himself the title of “captain-doctor” in the local community.
In earlier days when Penghu’s medical professionals were understaffed, Hou also acted as coroner and was on call 24 hours a day.
“The people who live on the Penghu islands are like my family,” Hou once said, adding that he was happy as long as all of them were safe and healthy.
Hou treated his patients like members of his family, Chen said, adding that his efforts won the praise of the islands’ residents.
A funeral service is to be held for Hou at the Jyudao Cemetery (菊島福園) in Penghu’s Magong City (馬公) on Sunday.
In 2002, Hou received a Medical Contribution Award — jointly given by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Health, Welfare and Environment Foundation and others — when he was less than 40 years old.
This year, he also received an award from the Penghu District Prosecutors’ Office for his role as a forensic medical examiner and was honored in the journal published by the office.
The Penghu County Public Health Bureau has asked President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to honor Hou with a presidential citation, it said, adding that the local community has also expressed its desire to honor the late doctor with a bronze statue.
Additional reporting by CNA
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