Former Department of Health minister Lin Fang-yue (林芳郁) has been appointed superintendent of Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), the Veterans Affairs Commission late on Thursday.
The Executive Yuan had approved Lin’s appointment, the commission added in a press release.
Lin, who will be the first-ever medical professional to head TVGH who has not previously worked at the 50-year-old facility, is scheduled to assume his new post on Jan. 16, the commission said.
During a brief interview, Lin said he knows some TVGH staff are unhappy about his appointment as they consider him an outsider.
He said, however, that he has mentally prepared himself for the job and would do his utmost to be a good leader and win over the hearts and minds of his new colleagues.
Lin also denied criticism from TVGH sources that his appointment was “political payback.”
One TVGH doctor said that all four of the deputy superintendents have worked at the hospital for more than 30 years and all have great medical expertise and administrative experience. Lin’s appointment “is really hurting TVGH morale,” he said.
Some friends of Lin’s have also expressed concern that he would have difficulty running the hospital, especially for the first couple of months.
Lin resigned as minister in September to take responsibility for the Department of Health’s inept handling of the controversy over food imports from China tainted with melamine.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final
EYE ON MAYORS: The DPP would file a complaint with the Control Yuan against Ko and Chiang over their handling of reports of abuse at a preschool in the city The Taipei City Government’s belated response under Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and his predecessor, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), to alleged child sex abuse at a kindergarten resulted in more children being victimized, two Taipei City Councilors said yesterday. A Taipei preschool teacher has been charged with sexually abusing six children from 2021 to last year at a school registered to his mother. Prosecutors are reportedly considering additional charges amid a wave of new accusations allegedly linking the suspect to 20 other abused children and the discovery at his residence of more than 600 sexually explicit videos featuring minors. The
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from