The Cabinet yesterday approved an amendment to the Medical Treatment Act (醫療法) allowing healthcare institutions in a planned biomedical science park in Hsinchu to form corporations and issue shares.
It is hoped the move will boost medical tourism.
Currently the law defines hospitals as non-profit institutions. They are not allowed to be established as corporations, issue shares or give bonuses to shareholders or employees.
PHOTO: CNA
Department of Health (DOH) Minister Yaung Chih-lang (楊志良) told a press conference that Taiwan’s advanced healthcare treatment offers great potential for medical tourism. It could tap into increasing demand for medical care from Chinese citizens.
Yaung said public or private hospitals outside the specific zone could also engage in medical tourism, but this would be capped at less than 10 percent of the institution’s capacity.
“Whenever medical resources are insufficient for local residents, healthcare institutions will be obliged to obey the DOH and serve local people first,” Yaung said.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet yesterday also approved a proposal by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to build the 5km Kinmen Bridge (金門大橋) linking Kinmen with Little Kinmen.
MOTC Minister Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said that construction was expected to start at the end of this year and would take more than two years to complete.
“The plan has been around for more than 10 years and we decided to make it happen,” Mao said, adding that the government hoped the bridge would not only help transportation, but would also generate tourism interest.
In related news, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday approved a proposal by the DOH to disband the ad hoc Central Epidemic Command Center for influenza A (H1N1).
The center started operations last April.
Although the WHO recently decided to rule out a “post-pandemic” phase for the H1N1 pandemic, Yaung said that Taiwan, as in the case of many other advanced countries, had already entered the post-peak phase.
Yaung said that a total of 41 people died from H1N1, making Taiwan the third-lowest country in the world in terms of the mortality rate per million, second only to Belgium and Japan, “which is something we should be proud of,” he said.
Also See: Swine flu pandemic not yet over, public health experts warn
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