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Magistrate Welcomed Scholars’ Opinions at an Industry-Government-University Health Care Conference
Reporter: Chuang Huan-ning / County Government Report
The county government convened the Kinmen County Industry-Government-University Exchange Conference on Health Care and Welfare yesterday. In the conference, Magistrate Chen Fu-hai pointed out that social work, long-term care, and health care were all indispensable in the construction of a friendly environment in Kinmen. Full support will be given to the College of Health and Nursing of National Quemoy University for its initiatives, and the government will make a top-up for deficiency. He expected to work together with the College in the right direction to create a good environment for the elderly. The Kinmen County Industry-Government-University Exchange Conference on Health Care and Welfare was held at 3:00 pm yesterday at the first meeting room of the County Government. It was presided by Magistrate Chen, and the attendees included Executive Officer Ning Guo-ping, Director of the Public Health Bureau Wang Han-chi, Director of the Education Department Li Wun-liang, Director of the Social Affairs Department Chen Shih-bao, Director of the Accounting and Statistics Department Wang Kun-long, Director of the Personnel Department of Tsai Liou-bing, the Kinmen Hospital’s representative, and Quemoy University’s staff including Dean Wong Ruei-hong of the College of Health and Nursing, Department of Nursing’s Chairman Wu Siou-li and teachers Huang Yu-ping and Tang Cun-kai, Department of Social Work’s Chairman Li Yi-jyun and teachers Ye Su-ke, Yang Jhih-cheng and Liou Siang-lan, as well as Department of Long Term Care’s teachers He Cing-song, Jhu Ciao-li and Sie Yan-pin. Magistrate Chen Fu-hai explained how he helped found the Quemoy University during his legislator’s tenure. He recognized the intention of the Departments of Social Work, Long Term Care, and Nursing to make contributions and would like to listen to the professional opinions of Quemoy University’s professors through this communication platform. Quemoy University is the think tank of Kinmen and has given much assistance and many resources to the county government with their professional insights for policy making and promotion. He compared the government-university collaboration to a car; it takes the efforts of both to move forward. He also said that the county’s education development fund would be invested boldly in any initiatives towards the right direction; the same applies to the Public Health Bureau’s medical development fund—as long as it was right and urgently needed for development, the fund would be invested boldly to create a healthy and sustainable social environment. In the conference, the Department of Education explained the aim of the Kinmen County Health Care and Welfare Exchange Conference as pulling together resources from the industries, government, and academia for joint deliberation and implementation of the relevant policies, service patterns and models that meet the needs of health care, long-term care, and social service needs of Kinmen citizens.
Director of the Public Health Bureau Wang Han-jhih highlighted the pressing need to deal with the regional long-term care issues, as the Ministry of Health and Welfare has been preparing to establish the Department of Long-term Care and a joint office must be organized now to deal with related regional affairs. According to Wang, among the 25 counties and cities across Taiwan, Kinmen is one of the 5 without a Long Term Care Section under the Public Health Bureau. In Kinmen, long-term care affairs are taken up by the Medical Affairs Section now; and a long-term care section has to be found. He admitted the unsatisfactory performance under the Long-term Care Plan 1.0 in the past and that experts’ advice is needed. Long-term care involves acceptance of service on the one hand and provision of service on the other. According to Wang, the provision of service is severely insufficient at present; service deficiency, information asymmetry, and manpower are some of the problems that need to be overcome.
The establishment of the Long-Term Care Section involves the reorganization of the county government’s structure. Magistrate Chen expressed that a deadline should be set for necessary personnel rearrangement and the urgently needed personnel should be supplied first.
In the meeting, the Long-term Care Management Center of the Public Health Bureau gave a report on “Existing Healthcare Policy Highlights of Kinmen County and Future Development,” while the Social Affairs Department reported on “Existing Social Welfare and Work Policy Highlights of Kinmen County and Future Development”. Both departments shared their experiences of policy implementation.
Issues such as “How does the Kinmen County Government define and expect the role played by the College of Health and Nursing at National Quemoy University?” and “How does the Kinmen County Government define the role of the MOHW Kinmen Hospital?” were also discussed in the conference.
According to Magistrate Chen, Kinmen is a happy island, but the foundation work is very important. Officials have to gain profound understanding and then provide support and necessary assistance. The Accounting and Statistics Department, Personnel Department, Department of Education, Social Affairs Department, and Public Health Bureau should have integrative thinking and provide integrated supports.
He also said that he went to the hospital every day to talk with the nursing staff to understand their needs, let them know the future development vision of Kinmen, and find out why they stay in Kinmen so as to increase the incentives for them to stay in Kinmen. Since nursing and health care was crucial to Kinmen, the Department of Education may play a complementary role in the development of long-term care, health care, and community service of Kinmen, and level up the future development by exploring “what is beneficial to Kinmen?” and “what kind of planning can be done in collaboration with the government?”
The Dean, Department Chair and teachers from the Quemoy University all expressed their opinions enthusiastically, including the problem of timeliness discrepancy of updated social work information. Quemoy University is willing to fill the information gap. Last year, more than 10 graduates from the Department of Social Work joined the Social Affairs Department. Under the Long-term Care Plan 2.0, the most pressing need concerns making up for the insufficient services for the moderately and mildly disabled, so that Kinmen may avoid the mistakes made by other counties and cities. Long-term care service should be centered on the service recipients to reduce their burden and to avoid the waste of social administration and healthcare resources. Also, more points of the care service should be undertaken.
Director of the Social Affairs Department Chen Shih-bao pointed out the county government’s expectation of focusing long-term care on local services, but many associations had a time recruiting social workers. He hoped that Quemoy University could provide timely assistance.
According to the Executive Officer Ning Guo-ping, the Long-term Care Plan 1.0 had been implemented for 10 years, and now Plan 2.0 is just launched, which necessitates changes in many measures and practices. Director Wang Han-jhih has been very mindful with the healthcare administration work. Anyone who wants to use the long-term care services must file an application and register with the Long-term Care Management Center. By now, there have not been many applicants, and it is important to encourage application and teach people how to apply for it.
Director of the Department of Education Li Wun-liang also suggested that Quemoy University teachers should communicate with county councilors frequently about their resource needs for their work projects, in order to seek the grant under various budgets successfully. Magistrate Chen expressed that he served as a township representative at the age of 26, a county councilor at 30, a town mayor at 34, and most importantly, he made his way to the Legislative Yuan. As the Magistrate now, he works earnestly and places much emphasis on taking action; he will do whatever he believes is right. He would like to listen to the opinions of Quemoy University’s President and will fully support Quemoy University’s initiatives, because social work, long-term care, and health care are all dispensable. Quemoy University was privileged to have established the College of Health and Nursing in its early days, and that should be properly developed and reinforced. The government will make external resources available for integration and assistance through established mechanisms.
Dean Wong Ruei-hong thanked Magistrate Chen for his support. Concerning the problems encountered by the three departments of the College in their development and the local needs of Kinmen, the Dean wishes to work out some specific collaboration projects. Magistrate Chen said that he would give full support to whatever things that should be duly done. The Dean, Department Chair, and teachers should discuss with the President and executives of Quemoy University about the role and needs of the College of Health and Nursing. The county government will undertake to support the College’s initiatives, and he will personally direct and undertake the provision of the required facilities, equipment, and any assistance from the county government in the future. For example, the Public Health Bureau may offer scholarships to encourage students to stay in Kinmen after graduation, and the Department of Education may plan collaborative projects with the College of Health and Nursing. He hoped that the meeting would come up with some worthwhile perspectives and set the tone for the future endeavors. He expected everyone to work together to create an age-friendly environment in Kinmen.
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