The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday expressed its sorrow over the death of pulmonologist Kao Kuo-chin (高國晉), hailing his dedication to medicine, including helping establish national clinical treatment guidelines for COVID-19.
The Taiwan Society of Critical Care Medicine on Sunday wrote on Facebook that Kao, the association’s chairman, had passed away at the age of 59.
The society said its members express their deepest condolences, and would remember his wholehearted contribution and hard work in the field of emergency and critical care medicine, as well as in a resilience project.
Photo: Screengrab from the Internet
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, where Kao was the head of the Department of Respiratory Therapy, confirmed his death on Sunday evening.
Chou Chia-yu (周嘉裕), a former head of Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Department of Critical Care Medicine, on Sunday wrote on Facebook that he had learned that his friend Kao was found unconscious with no heartbeat in his office at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital on Sunday afternoon.
The CDC yesterday said their staff members were shocked by the news about Kao, a highly respected and valuable partner of the CDC in disease prevention.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) and CDC Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), on behalf of all disease prevention personnel, expressed their boundless grief as well as gratitude to Kao’s professional dedication, benevolence and contributions in protecting people’s health, the CDC said.
From January 2020 to May 2023, Kao was a member of the specialists’ meeting of the then-Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for COVID-19, engaging in planning COVID-19 prevention policies and decisions, it said.
He provided suggestions and scientific evidence for setting the criteria for reporting cases, border control strategies, and the contingency plans for domestic testing and medical capacity preparation in the early stages of the pandemic, it said.
After local COVID-19 activity rapidly increased in May 2021, the CECC quickly set up a “COVID-19 severe cases clinical treatment experts’ advisory group,” with Kao again stepping forward to become an advisory committee member, it said, adding that he shared his vast experience, offered practical suggestions and gave online lectures.
The CDC said the content of his lectures were later compiled into a key documentary of severe COVID-19 medical care, an important reference for the field of critical care medicine in Taiwan.
Kao also participated in establishing the nation’s clinical treatment guidelines for COVID-19, as well as other important guidelines, and has made invaluable contributions to improving medical care quality for treating severe COVID-19, it said.
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