A dozen mental health groups on Monday criticized Kaohsiung’s Lungfatang (龍發堂) psychiatric care facility, alleging inhumane conditions and outbreaks of infectious diseases at the sanatorium.
The Alliance for the Mentally Ill and other groups started a petition urging public action against Lungfatang, after the Kaohsiung Department of Health earlier that day said the sanatorium failed multiple health inspections this year.
The department said that from July to last month it conducted several inspections, which discovered 32 cases of amebic dysentery and nine cases of tuberculosis at the sanatorium.
Overcrowding, inadequate staff and uncleanliness have contributed to the occurrence of disease clusters at Lungfatang, the department said, adding that the sanatorium — an eight-story complex, including a basement — houses about 500 residents, but has fewer than 20 staff, none of whom are qualified medical professionals.
The residents have an average living space of 4 ping (13.2m2), it said.
The facility does not have enough toilets, while the ones it does have are antiquated, with some consisting of open gutters and others lacking flushing mechanisms, resulting in the unsanitary conditions, it added.
The department said it has fined the sanatorium nearly NT$700,000 (US$23,341) for contravening the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) and the Mental Health Act (精神衛生法), as well as food safety and sanitation regulations.
At a news conference held by the civil groups, department official Su Shu-fang (蘇淑芳) said the conditions at the facility were “shocking.”
She said that during one official inspection she saw a patient who was tethered to his bed with chains and wearing no clothes on his lower body pacing over puddles of urine.
“I have worked in mental health for more than 30 years and I have never seen such inhumane treatment of a patient,” Su said.
Lungfatang suffers from a chronic shortage of mental health experts and sanitation management for its many residents, alliance president Lee Li-chuan (李麗娟) said.
Patients have limited access to modern medicines or therapy, the crude accommodations offer no privacy and the facility has repeatedly failed sanitation and health inspections, making it a hotbed of disease, she said.
Families who have left their loved ones at Lungfatang should immediately relocate them to licensed mental health facilities so that they can receive the therapy and rehabilitation they deserve, she added.
The department said it is aware the sanatorium has antiqued facilities and low-quality care.
A project to transform the facility into an elderly care center is in limbo, because the sanatorium’s management has refused to modernize equipment, it added.
Lungfatang yesterday responded to the allegations, saying that it does not accept the criticism leveled against it, because it was “blown out of proportion.”
The Buddhist sanatorium’s abbess, self-styled Master Xinshan (心善法師), said she apologizes for the outbreaks of disease at Lungfatang, but added that NT$3.2 million has been spent to improve facilities since July.
She said the man cited by Su was tethered to his bed because he had a violent tantrum over his lunch being delayed by the inspection, adding that the treatment was “not inhumane.”
She denied charges that Lungfatang refused to comply with the law, saying the Kaohsiung City Government did not grant it a permit to rezone the property, which is needed to change its operation.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
RSS