Taiwan Church News

3324 Edition

November 9 - 15, 2015

Church Ministry

Former MMH Vice Superintendent, Dr. Hwang Fu-yuan, Is Granted Medical Dedication Award

Reported by Lin Yi-ying

On Otober 31, Dr. Hwang Fu-yuan, former Deputy Minister of Department of Health and former ViceSuperintendent of Mackay Memorial Hospital(MMH), is granted Medical Dedication Award in 2015. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Hwang expresses his thanksgiving and dedicates all the glory to God. He also thanks for the sympathetic support and understanding tolerance from his beloved families.

Though 74 years old, Dr. Hwang says his job as a pediatrician is his favorable vocation. As there is no such word of "retirement" ever appeared in the bible, he will never stop his service as a pediatrician in the rest of his life, says Dr. Hwang. Such spirit of service is also applauded by the audience assembled at the ceremony of 2015 Medical Dedication Award.

Having established a complete and compact division of pediatrics, Dr. Hwang Fu-yuan serves over 40 years in MMHand initiates a hospital SOP to accredit "sub-specialty". In 1978, Dr. Hwang opened the first "Neonato Intensive Care Unit" in Taiwan and set up a "24 hours non-stop neonate observation room", which saved lots of critically-illed neonate. A inter-hospital transfer process for premature baby, which had taken care of countless premature babies in Taiwan, was also created by Dr. Hwang.

As the cost to take care of premature baby is very high for the average families, Dr. Hwang therefore set up the"Premature Baby Foundation" to help collect the necessary economical support and charity. In 1981, overcoming many opposite opinions, Dr. Hwang successfully run the first ever clinical trial on Hepatitis B vaccine in Taiwan. Afterwards, gaining grounds of the Taiwan's history public health, this vaccine is approved to be used for hundreds of thousands Hepatitis B patients across Taiwan.

In the critical period of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS) around 2003 in Taiwan, Dr. Hwang was namedas deputy commander-in-chief of the Committee of SARS Prevention. Applying his specialty in infectious diseases, hospital management and civil administration, Dr. Hwang led Taiwan's CDC and hospitals overcoming the most critical crisis in Taiwan's public health.

Translated by Peter Wolfe