Taiwan’s brain drain problem is now affecting emergency physicians, with up to 120 of Taiwan’s emergency medical physicians estimated to leave this year alone. In response, the Health Ministry has increased emergency payments beginning this June and is taking measures to avoid emergency room congestion in the future.
Critical and emergency care manpower shortages have been on the rise across Taiwan, especially with an increase in domestic COVID-19 cases. According to Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine statistics, 120 emergency physicians are expected to leave by the end of the year, with 66 having already left, which has stoked fears that emergency room congestion will once again become a serious problem.
Speaking to the situation, Health Minister Dr. Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said that in terms of personnel flow, the loss of emergency staff is not equally distributed across the island, citing a hospital in Taipei where only one emergency care physician retired this year. Nonetheless, he said that his ministry is paying attention to the issue and has already implemented measures to address it, including increasing related payments, along with continuing to advocate for a tiered medical care system.
To address the potential of emergency room congestion, the ministry proposed three countermeasures: distributing more beds to hospitals, encouraging hospitals to transfer patients from regional wards without going through emergency rooms, and addressing payments and low-salary issues through previous investments, the rollout for which is expected to begin in June.