Health Care in Taiwan (My Personal Experience)

Over the past week the weather in Taiwan has warmed up quite a bit, so a friend, Bartek, and I decided to go to a beach just outside of Taipei yesterday to enjoy the sun and fresh air. The beach was gorgeous and not crowded; just a few surfers and swimmers were out enjoying the waves.

All was going well until we decided to swim one more time after lunch. The tide was changing and the waves had gotten bigger. We were having fun with getting soaked by the cool waves with several other Taiwanese visitors, when suddenly a wave hit me that was much stronger than I had expected. It knocked me down and the force of the wave dislocated my shoulder. I knew immediately what had happened because I have injured this shoulder before. I went back to the beach to tell Bartek I needed help. Immediately, a Taiwanese father who was on the beach with his daughter called an ambulance.

When the ambulance arrived they tried to put me on a stretcher, but I convinced them that would be more painful to lay down. I sat on a bench instead, and before I knew it we were speeding away, weaving in and out of traffic. My arm jolted with every bump, and every time I would cry out because of the pain the EMT would mark a tally on his clipboard. I begged him for pain medicine but he said he could not give me any until we arrived at the hospital. The drive seemed to last forever.

When we arrived at the small hospital I tried to explain what had happened. They spoke a little English, I spoke a little Chinese, and eventually it all worked out. The hospital was essentially one big room with several beds, a registration counter, and a small desk with a computer which the doctor used to look at x-rays and type reports. It was not crowded, luckily, because there seemed to only be one doctor. After pleading for some kind of pain medicine, the nurse gave me Demerol and took me to get x-rays. The doctor later showed them to me at his desk and explained, in perfect English, that he needed to put me to sleep to reset my shoulder. He said there was a small chance that he could not set it properly. In that case, he said I would need to see a specialist who was only available at a larger hospital about 15 minutes away. He asked if I would rather go there to have my shoulder reset. He was a young doctor, and I asked him if he had done this procedure before. He said he had, to which I replied, "Okay, I trust you".

About an hour later I woke up with my arm back in its proper place. A nurse called for a cab to take us to take to the nearest bus station. Before leaving I paid my fee for the hospital visit. Including the ambulance ride, x-rays, pain medication, and sedative I paid $1886 NTD or $58.30 USD. And this was without a health insurance card- I was amazed.

Based on my personal experience, I think Taiwan has an excellent health care system. I am especially grateful to the nurses and doctor who were so helpful, and to my Polish friend, Bartek, for his patience and concern. The whole thing was quite a surreal experience.

Below: Picture of me in the hospital before they reset my shoulder. Notice the poster of snakes on the wall in the top left hand corner. Bartek tried to make me laugh by saying at least I didn't get bit by a poisonous snake:). The second picture is me back at home; sore but feeling much better.