NTU Hospital Establishes 20-Bed Integrated Ward; Minister Urges Equal Payment for ER Stays

Taipei, Taiwan – National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital has announced the creation of an initial 20-bed "Internal-External Integrated Ward" in response to a critical incident where an 85-year-old woman died after waiting 12 days for a hospital bed. The move aims to alleviate severe overcrowding in emergency rooms and improve patient care continuity.

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Temporary ward care ensures uninterrupted medical treatment.

Chen Chin-hsing, the hospital's vice president, emphasized that these integrated wards are distinct from temporary holding areas. He highlighted the challenges of insufficient nursing staff and strict patient-to-nurse ratios, which make it difficult to staff even fully occupied beds. Despite these constraints, patients in temporary ER stays currently receive examinations, treatments, and nursing care. Chen advocated for institutionalizing the temporary ER stay system, suggesting it be compensated at a rate comparable to regular hospital beds to enable hospitals to improve these environments.

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We hope the Ministry of Health and Welfare can institutionalize the emergency room temporary stay system and provide payment parity with hospital beds.

Furthermore, Chen addressed the issue of patient referral and triage. He argued that if mild cases frequently overwhelm medical center emergency rooms due to convenience, NTU's ER will struggle to meet national demand. He proposed that regulatory bodies consider implementing a reasonable referral mechanism, possibly by increasing co-payments or registration fees for mild emergency cases to enforce tiered medical care.

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We support increasing payments for critical and severe cases. Whether to increase temporary stay fees is still under review, as we need to consider if it will lead to more temporary stays.

Responding to these proposals, Liu Yueh-ping, Director-General of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Bureau of Medical Affairs, acknowledged the need for increased payments for critical and severe cases, a policy the ministry supports. However, she indicated that decisions on adjusting temporary stay fees require comprehensive consideration to avoid unintended consequences, such as potentially increasing the number of temporary stays. Liu also stressed the importance of building public confidence in regional and local hospitals, alongside medical centers, as a long-term strategy. She committed to strengthening regional collaboration and referral trust, working with local health bureaus to address concerns about patients being referred to different hospitals.

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In the medium and long term, we must establish the capacity and public confidence of regional and local hospitals, not just renowned doctors.