The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday said it has proposed an amendment to the Medical Act (醫療法) to bar shareholding company representatives from their affiliated medical foundations’ boards.
“The proposal was made to prevent medical foundations from becoming affiliated companies’ holdings centers,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said.
The proposed amendment is aimed at improving regulations on medical corporations for better organizational management, reducing administrative and financial disturbance and contributing to society, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator and physician Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said.
Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation chief executive Joanne Liu (劉淑瓊) said hospitals are allowed to make a profit, but it is important that they are self-disciplined and not view making a profit as their first priority.
More than a dozen physicians at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in June last year resigned en masse, which highlighted management problems on the hospital’s board.
Ministry Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said the proposed amendment is listed as a priority bill in this legislative session, adding that if it is passed, Formosa Plastics Group shareholders that represent the companies must withdraw from the hospital’s board.
Chen said that in addition to regulating the composition of medical corporations’ boards and achieving better public welfare, the proposed amendment would also stipulate that hospitals must allocate 20 percent of their income surplus to public welfare and 5 percent to improving their employees’ salaries or recruiting more personnel.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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