By: Eoghan Olkeriil Ngirudelsang
Koror, Palau – While members of the Olbiil Er a Kelulau are discussing the option of purchasing new housing units in Hawaii for Palauan patients, the number of patients referred to Taiwan remains high while housing remains insufficient to meet needs.
At a press conference on April 2nd, Vice President and Health and Human Services Minister Oilouch reported that 4 additional rooms of the Shin Kong Training Center building had been given to Palau to house patients. Within walking distance to Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, these recent hotels like rooms will make a total of 12 rooms available to Palauan patients.
A recently signed memorandum of understanding(MOU) stipulates that Palau’s Health Care Fund pays for the room’s rental fees while it is used to houses Palauan patients regardless of whether they are Shin Kong Hospital patients or not. A great majority of Palau patients referred to Taiwan goes to either of 2 different hospitals namely Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital or Mackay Memorial Hospital.
There are 23 referral patients in Taiwan currently. This is a typical number of referred patients seeking medical attention there and at times it surges due to the increased number of flights between Palau and Taiwan that is now four times per week.
In comparison to the Philippines which has had 10 housing units for referral patients, Taiwan for many years only had 2 Palau houses with four rooms each totaling 8 rooms in total while it receives the most traffic of referral patients. While housing have risen to 12 rooms, the housing availability is currently only meeting half the number of patients. Furthermore, the 2 Palau houses with the 8 rooms are both inaccessible to patients in wheelchairs. Wheelchair bound patients cannot access both Palau houses unless they are able to walk up the few steps of stairs to reach the building elevators.
This pose significant hardship for many patients, especially those with physical limitations. Vice President Oilouch said Shin Kong had said that more rooms can be made available if need arises.
Meanwhile, reported in international news recently, for 2025, Kaohsiung , Taiwan was ranked number 1 city for health care scoring 88.6 out of 100 in the Health Care Index by city 2025. It is followed by 2nd place Taipei City, Taiwan scoring 86.7 followed by Makati, Philippines, Chiang Mai, Seoul, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Madrid, and Valencia rounding out the top 10.