Staff Shortage at Taoyuan Hospital

Taoyuan General Hospital has closed many of its outpatient services, as it struggles to cope with a staffing shortage. The hospital’s COVID cluster now involves nine local cases, and all contacts of those patients have been placed in home isolation. Currently the hospital is offering emergency care and a few clinics open only during the day. Regional hospitals have been mobilized to meet local needs for health care.

At Taoyuan General Hospital, staff wearing PPE and face masks stands guard at the entrance. Many people who walk up to request access are turned away.

The access control is due to a shortage of outpatient doctors. In some departments, there’s only one physician left. Some patients arrive, only to find their doctor replaced with another.

At Taoyuan General Hospital, the wards are no longer accepting new inpatients. Only the emergency room is still open, along with a handful of clinics. Contact tracing by the CECC has left the hospital understaffed.

Chen Shih-chung (Jan. 18)
Central Epidemic Command Center
We’re scrapping our current definition of a “close contact.” Now, anyone who’s worked with or encountered a confirmed case will have to isolate at home.

Concerned about the hospital’s ability to cope, Taoyuan’s health department has formed an emergency response network comprising nine hospitals, including Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou, Far Eastern Hospital and Shuang Ho Hospital. It’s coordinating the transfer of severely ill patients from the Taoyuan hospital.

Chen Hsiao-chun
Taoyuan Department of Public Health
There are urgent cases or severe cases requiring referral, such as patients with ischemic stroke who need to be injected with tissue plasminogen activator, or patients with myocardial infarction who need cardiac catheterization. Major cardiovascular conditions like these can be attended to at other hospitals in Taoyuan. This service will be provided 24 hours a day.

Hospitals within the city’s jurisdiction are mobilizing to help Taoyuan General Hospital emerge from the outbreak.