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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Ministry to supplement salaries for pediatricians
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan poses for a picture with a family in a news conference yesterday. Photo: CNA
By Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNA
The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday said that it plans to invest NT$200 million （US$6.24 million） in supplementing pediatrician salaries in a bid to retain talent.
Only 158 pediatricians started practicing between 2018 and 2022, Taiwan Medical Association data showed.
Under the scheme announced to coincide with Children’s Day tomorrow, pediatric residents are to receive an additional NT$10,000 per month, Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Liu Yueh-ping （劉越萍） told a news conference in Taipei.
Trainees specializing in certain critical and rare pediatric conditions are also to receive another NT$10,000 monthly, while pediatric surgical trainees are to receive an additional NT$30,000 per month, Liu said.
In addition, hospitals that train pediatricians are to receive NT$5.6 million to NT$12 million, he said.
Subsidies are expected to start being disbursed in July, he added.
Also from July, NT$600,000 to NT$1.2 million per month would be given to hospitals to add extra care wards that integrate maternal, postnatal and pediatric care, the ministry said.
To improve pediatric care for children in the foster system following the high-profile death last year of a one-year-old foster child, Liu said that an annual management budget of NT$2,000 would be allocated per child to ensure they get to see a medical specialist.
The scheme announced yesterday is part of a program that started in 2021 to improve pediatric care nationwide. As of the end of last year, 1,048 institutions and 1,880 physicians participated in the program, serving 195,552 children younger than three, the ministry said.
Since then, non-pediatric physicians have been recruited to help fill in gaps in underserved areas, ensuring that 79.9 percent of the nation’s administrative districts have at least one pediatric specialist, it said.
The plan is to be implemented in two phases, the first of which saw NT$700 million invested annually over the past three years, Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan （薛瑞元） said.
The ministry has secured NT$2 billion for this year, with at least another NT$2 billion eyed for next year to begin the second phase, he said.
“These are all public funds that would not be taken from National Health Insurance fees,” Hsueh said, adding that hopefully more young physicians would be willing to enter the field due to the improved salaries and support.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
