ADVANCE CARE PLANNING: Separately, Taipei published a list of hospitals that can help people record what treatment they want to receive if they are unable to communicate
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 15, 2019
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
A planned “open hospitals” program would allow pregnant women to make prenatal visits at

Taoyuan General Hospital Anning Center for Patient Care director Shih Tzu-chien on Thursday gives a talk on the Patient Right to Autonomy Act.
Photo: Wei Chin-yun, Taipei Times
nearby clinics and give birth under the care of the same physician at cooperating hospitals, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.
Ministry of the Interior data showed that about 180,000 babies were born in Taiwan last year, the lowest number in eight years, and the program should make childbirth more mother-friendly in the hope of boosting the fertility rate, the health ministry said.
Some clinics refuse to perform deliveries due to limited resources, but under the “open hospitals” program, hospitals and clinics would share resources, including operating theaters, examination equipment and medical practitioners.
Dealing with only one physician should also put pregnant woman at ease, the ministry said.
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