Taipei, April 9 (CNA) Government officials on Saturday unveiled a plaque for a children's hospital in Hsinchu City which is set to officially open on Sept. 1, delivering the best possible healthcare to around 300,000 children in the city and neighboring area.
The plaque unveiling ceremony for Hsinchu Municipal MacKay Children's Hospital was attended by Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), MacKay Memorial Hospital Chairman Hsiao Tsong-ying (蕭聰穎), and Hsinchu Mackay Memorial Hospital Superintendent Weng Shun-long (翁順隆).
The long-awaited project was the first local government-initiated hospital built based on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model in Taiwan involving the coordination of a local government, which provided the land, Mackay Memorial Hospital investing funds and construction firms, Lin said.
Lin said the project was one of his main campaign pledges when he first ran for mayor in 2014, because as a father of three he is aware that it is not easy to take a child to a pediatrician when they suddenly feel unwell or get a fever in the middle of the night.
In his remarks, Chen said the National Health Insurance Administration will consider increasing rates reimbursed by the National Health Insurance for treatment of severe diseases claimed by children's hospitals to help the hospital remain financially viable.
The Hsinchu Municipal MacKay Children's Hospital will have 32 pediatric sub-specialty divisions, including acute care, rare diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, among others, after it opens on Sept. 1. It will also accommodate more devices and space needed for child medical care and related developments over the next 50 years, according to a press release.
The hospital will enable children in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli, where there is no medical center, the highest level in Taiwan's four-tier classification of medical facilities (medical centers, regional hospitals, community hospitals, and local private clinics) based on medical equipment, to receive the best possible healthcare, Hsiao said.
