Former Department of Health minister Lin Fang-yue (林芳郁) has been appointed superintendent of Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), the Veterans Affairs Commission late on Thursday.
The Executive Yuan had approved Lin’s appointment, the commission added in a press release.
Lin, who will be the first-ever medical professional to head TVGH who has not previously worked at the 50-year-old facility, is scheduled to assume his new post on Jan. 16, the commission said.
During a brief interview, Lin said he knows some TVGH staff are unhappy about his appointment as they consider him an outsider.
He said, however, that he has mentally prepared himself for the job and would do his utmost to be a good leader and win over the hearts and minds of his new colleagues.
Lin also denied criticism from TVGH sources that his appointment was “political payback.”
One TVGH doctor said that all four of the deputy superintendents have worked at the hospital for more than 30 years and all have great medical expertise and administrative experience. Lin’s appointment “is really hurting TVGH morale,” he said.
Some friends of Lin’s have also expressed concern that he would have difficulty running the hospital, especially for the first couple of months.
Lin resigned as minister in September to take responsibility for the Department of Health’s inept handling of the controversy over food imports from China tainted with melamine.
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