The government’s Inpatient Integrated Care Trial Program has since 2022 provided publicly funded care, giving patients’ families more freedom, while medical staff can focus on other duties, Shih said. Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei TimesThe project has been positively received over the past three years, with medical staff providing favorable feedback, such as having a reduced workload, he said. The ministry plans to provide NT$250 million (US$7.9 million) to expand the project and provide service for 30,000 beds, the ministry said. National Taiwan University Hospital superintendent Yu Chung-jen (余忠仁) said that medical staff shortage was a systemic problem and that the introduction of a foreign workforce would reduce the workload of family members and hospital staff. The current care model was designed on the premise that one person could care for multiple patients, but in practice, that ideal has been challenging to achieve, he said.

Source: Taipei Times January 14, 2026 17:17 UTC