ShareHope invests in Consusafe, Taiwan’s largest surgical-dressings supplier, to develop medical supply channel.

ShareHope invests in Consusafe, Taiwan’s largest surgical-dressings supplier, to develop medical supply channel.

ShareHope (8403-TW), the only medical supporting and logistic company listed in Taiwan formally announced it took a 46% participation in Consusafe, hence grabbing a controlling stake in a major surgical-dressing supply channel nationwide. According to ShareHope, this investment will strengthen the company’s core business, diversify market channels, lower purchasing cost, and enhance its R&D capability. All these benefits add value to ShareHope’s branding image and created a new milestone for its health supply group purchasing channel integration.

Founded in 1980, Consusafe is GMP, CE, and FDA certified, and is Taiwan’s largest manufacturer of surgical dressing and health supplies. It is licensed to produce and sell over 600 items, including surgical dressing supplies, respiratory care supplies, and anesthesia tubing supplies. Consusafe also operates a biotechnology platform that conducts new product R&D.

According to Dr. Fred Yang, board chairman of ShareHope, the scope of ShareHope businesses includes medical device leasing, health checkup services, medical specialty services, healthcare management and consulting, and medication and health supply group purchasing which currently accounts for 80% of its revenues. The company is running an innovative business model, and is expanding its market from northern Taiwan to the rest of the country and mainland China. Its customers include hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics. ShareHope is also introducing several new products to Taiwan, establishing a testing platform, and promoting SmartCare technology.

ShareHope’s competitive advantage comes from its three departments: health logistics, health management (health checkups), and medical specialty. The health logistics services provide customers with an efficient, tailor made, low-cost, and simplified group purchasing process. The health management department will benefit from the opportunity presented by the influx of more tourists from China. The medical specialty department hopes to provide medical device leasing and specialty services to 378 mid to small size hospitals it currently targets.

ShareHope considers M&A as expanding strategy. Revenue expected to increase 20-30%.

Based on market forecast, the after-tax earnings per share of the newly listed company ShareHope (8403) is expected to be 2.4 dollar, and its annual revenue growth rate is projected to be 20-30%. ShareHope is considering domestic mergers and acquisitions to expand its medication and supply logistics, and clinic operation businesses. With regard to development in China, it is hoping to establish a strategic partnership with companies that share complementary goals.

Group purchasing of medication and health supply logistics accounted for over 80% of

ShareHope’s revenues last year. The rest of its revenues came from health checkup business (11-12%) and medical specialty service (6-7%). Earnings after tax for the first 3 quarters were 80.32 million dollars, or 1.9 dollars per share.
ShareHopes’ revenue in January reached a historic record of 130 million dollars due to a spike in customers’ orders before the Chinese New Year. Medication and health supply logistics generated revenues significantly higher than their average the previous year. Earlier this month, ShareHope signed a contract with the Ten-Chen Healthcare Network, a Taoyuan based healthcare supplier, adding another customer to its group purchasing platform.

Ten-Chen Healthcare Network, which is viewed as a typical healthcare provider in the Taoyuan area, operates two hospitals and will be an important contributor to ShareHope’s revenues in the future. Meanwhile, the Department of Health latest policy to recommend patients refill prescriptions for chronic medication from local pharmacies rather than from hospitals provides an incentive for local pharmacies to join the group purchasing platform offered by ShareHope. As indicated by ShareHope, the company is considering more M&A to broaden its channels among pharmacies and clinics.

ShareHope also hopes for a boost to its health checkup business from an expected influx of tourists and patients from the Chinese mainland. However the degree by which this will impact on ShareHope’s business is highly dependent on a loosening of the policies that still restrict the travel of Chinese nationals in Taiwan. Health checkup services provided by ShareHope now account for 30% of all health check up services in the Taoyuan, Hsin-Chu, and Miao-Li areas.

DAISY nurse March -- Wu Jia-Yun

Nurse Wu Jai-Yun worked on the ventilator care unit for 6 years. The patients are all long term chronic respiratory dependent patients. Most of these patients are unresponsive and they stare blindly in the white ceiling every day and that may be the only thing they see day in and day out. Typically the nurse's duty can also be mundane and repetitious. But to nurse Wu, she sees her job is to not only take good care of the patients physically with compassion and enthusiasm but also provide emotional and spiritual support to the patients and their family.

She once had to attend to a 70 years old female patient who was ventilator dependent, and bed ridden after a severe stroke. Her condition wasn’t stable and the outlook was not too optimistic. The patient relied on machines to maintain her vital signs, and her primary caregiver was her daughter. When the physician discussed the DNR option for her mother, her daughter refused and insisted on aggressive resuscitation instead.

While interacting with the patient’s daughter, Nurse Wu Jia-Yun realized that there was a strong bond between the daughter and her mother. The daughter was not married and her mother was her life’s only focus. Losing her mother would mean lose her motivation for other things. Understanding the situation, Nurse Wu Jia-Yun made exception to the visiting-hours limitation, hence increasing the time available to the daughter to care for the patient. Ms. Wu also made efforts to improve the comfort level of the patient, by relieving her pain and providing spiritual support. Through interaction, she soon developed a very good relationship with the patient’s daughter. Ms. Wu helped the daughter cope and grieve. The patient’s daughter began to understand that since nothing could be done that would improve her mother’s condition, letting go may be the best way to relieve her mother from suffering. She eventually accepted the DNR option for her mother, and the patient passed away surrounded by her family in peace and dignity.

For Nurse Wu Jia-Yun, the core of good patient care is to maintain the patient’s dignity and improve his or her comfort during illness. The scope of care is also extended to the patient’s relatives. She demonstrated the core values of Min-Sheng Healthcare Network in:

■ Honesty：
1. Complete duties within timeframe.
2. Follow hospital and department policies and procedures.
■ Originality：
1.Involved in quality indicator monitoring, and in various quality improvement projects.
2. Involve in developing nursing continuous education.
■ Progression：
1. Pursued further academic degree while working at the same time.
2. Voluntarily attended nursing administration training course and was promoted as the deputy head nurse of the respiratory care center in 2010.
■ Excellence：
1. Proactively identifies patient and family needs/difficulties and provides recourses and support.
2. Patient and family satisfaction.
■ Sharing：
1. Is a clinical mentor and teaches new staff and nursing students; she is viewed by others as enthusiastic and a patient mentor.
2. Willing to cover extra shifts and support other units when there’s a staffing shortage.

Charity Concert held to promote senior care in Taiwan

To promote and raise awareness about senior citizens’ welfare, the Yeezen Charity Foundation, and Min-Sheng Healthcare System held a charity concert Saturday March 12 in the morning in the lobby of Min-Sheng General Hospital. The Chairman of the board, Dr. Yang Min-Sheng donated a piano to Yeezen Day Care Center (the first day care center sponsored by the Taoyuan County Government), hoping to bring more music into senior citizens’ lives. The event was also attended by the head of the Social Welfare Bureau, Ms. Chang Shu-Hui, and section leader Mr. Hsu Min-Song.

The concert featured pieces performed by seven children of Min-Sheng staff ranging in age from elementary school to college students. They played scores of popular movies and other famous songs (such as Mariage D'amour, Through the Arbor Sundial Dream…) by Richard Clayderman and Keven Kern. The show ended with a performance of Dr. Yang on the Erhu fiddle.

A highlight of the concert came when eight senior citizens from Yeezen Day Care Center forming the “The Family of Pine, Cypress, and Bamboo” Chorus played the song “Happy Time”. The aim of the event was to bring a “LOHAS” environment to senior citizens, and the Family of Pine, Cypress, and Bamboo Chorus became a “happiness maker”, prompting songs, laughter, and sunshine for senior citizens. A found-raiser organized by foreign spouses selling chocolates was organized alongside the concert, and college student volunteers contributed to make this event a bustling festival.

According to statistics, there were 1.92 million people aged over 65 in 2000, accounting for 8.62% of the population in Taiwan. However, by 2009 that age group had swollen to 2.43 million, or 10.55% of the population, and it is expected that by 2050, 30% of the population will be aged over 65, making Taiwan’s population the second oldest in the world after Japan. To meet the needs of this growing population, the government encourages the establishment of various types of facilities for seniors. Day care centers offer a place for senior citizens whose relatives are working during the day, but demand for this type of centers far exceeds supply. Placing parents in senior care facilities is still culturally frown upon in the Taiwanese society, but it will be too late if we wait until the expending aging population becomes a strain on society to address the issue. This is why the Yeezen foundation wants to help the government by promoting high-quality senior care in the society.

Just like our parents would carefully choose the school we’d attend, it is now our responsibility to choose a safe and energetic day care center for our parents. For more information, please contact Yeezen Day Care Center. Address：no. 17 Ho-Shing Rd, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Phone：886-3-3373488。

Daisy nurse Feb. -- Wu Show-Mei

Ms. Wu Show-Mei has been working as a nurse ever since she graduated from school 13 years ago. Her passion for this career grew as her experience increased. Nurse Wu Show-Mei is now assistant nurse manager on the “VIP ward” (the unit that receives private-pay patients) where she has served for several years. From her daily clinical service, she has come to realize that sincerity and compassion are essential for good patient care. She also clearly understands that “Money is not everything” and that “Health is the greatest wealth.”
Here is an example from a real story:

Mr. Tzu was a senior executive at a company. He was admitted to the hospital with end-stage cancer, and because the disease had spread throughout his body he couldn’t undergo surgery. Although he has accepted his fate and try to face positively in the impending death, his primary nurse Ms. Wu soon realized that Mr. Tzu’s was consumed with worries on the future of his wife and young son. Nurse Wu built a good and trustful nurse-patient relationship with Mr. Tzu and his family. She facilitated a pastor upon patient's request to provide spiritual support to the patient and his family, and encouraged him to reflect on his life honestly. Thanks to her efforts, the patient was not afraid of death anymore, he felt at peace with himself and was able to express his feeling toward his family openly. After Mr. Tzu passed away, Nurse Wu assured the patient had proper wrapping of his body and accompanied Mr. Tzu and his family in the final journey of his life.
Nurse Wu meets Nightingale’s spirit of helping people with passion, patience, caring, attentiveness, and respect. She also reflects the core values of Min-Sheng’s Network through:

■ Honesty：
1. Has worked in this hospital for 9.5 years, therefore expressing her loyalty.
2. Pays attention to cost and expenses and never charges the patient wrongly.
3. Documents care in nursing notes accurately and thoroughly.

■ Innovation：
1. In 2009, her quality improvement project of “enhancing inter-shift communication” won the 2nd prize in the hospital-wide competition.
2. In 2010, her patient education poster won the 2nd prize in the nursing department competition.

■ Progression：
1. Actively attends ongoing educational programs, such as specialty trainings of OB/GYN and Pediatrics, mentor program, infection control and quality improvement.
2. Completed nursing administration training and was promoted to assistant nurse manager in 2010.

■ Excellence：
1. Selected as the “best nurse of the month” by patients in May, July, August, September, October, November, and December of 2010.
2. Received 52 compliment letters from patients after discharge in 2010.

■ Sharing：
1. As a clinical teacher, she provided instruction to new staff and nursing students, she is loved and trusted by her trainees.
2. She is willing to cover extra shifts and support other units when there’s a staffing shortage.
3. Proactively increased level of cleanliness and safety in the care environment and won the 2nd price in the hospital wide competition.

Min-Sheng Hospital is very fortunate to have such a fine nurse providing direct care to the patients at the hospital.

Dr. Yang Min-Sheng reflects on his life journey in an interview with the National Taiwan University Alumni Magazine -Part II

A father and son’s big dream

Upon his retirement thirty years later, his son, Dr. Fred Yang came back from the United States with the ambition of not just carry on with his father’s business, but to expand it and make it more sustainable.

After receiving his M.D from NTU and completing his residency at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Dr. Fred Yang went on to study public health at Harvard and business management under Peter Drucker. As he was about to launch his own career in the U.S, he received a letter from his father urging him to come back to Taiwan.

Dr. Yang Min-Sheng recalls: “When we were at our old san-Min Campus we used to encounter operation bottlenecks. We hardly had any competitive advantage, and couldn’t deliver sustainable financial results and medical quality. Therefore I wrote to my son and asked him to come back”. Within two weeks Fred Yang had brought his entire family back to Taiwan. “I was surprised and deeply moved. My son had heard my plea.”


Turning a crisis into an opportunity

What Dr. Fred Yang saw was an opportunity. In order to establish a healthy financial structure, he appointed an American finance expert as Vice President. A project to build a new hospital got underway in 2001, but construction costs overrun, the SARS epidemic outbreak of 2003 and a reduction in reimbursements from the National Health Insurance led the hospital to face new financial challenges.

In 2007, Dr. Yang stunned everyone by entering a “sell and lease back” agreement for the hospital’s ground and building with Insurance giant ING. This move relieved the hospital from financial stress, and provided Dr. Fred Yang with the leverage to expand his healthcare business and to work towards fulfilling his dream of managing 100 facilities within 10 years through mergers and acquisitions.
In order to manage his growing healthcare business efficiently and effectively Dr. Fred Yang formed a management company, Health Care Corporation of Asia (HCCA) which he put in charge of HR, strategic planning, and finance for all the facilities of the Min-Sheng group. He invited Dr. Steve Chan, the former Minister for Health, as board chairman of HCCA.

Meanwhile, Dr. Yang formed another healthcare logistics company, ShareHope, to integrate purchases of medications and other medical supplies, as well as laundry service for all Min-Sheng facilities. Thanks to this centralized management, operations and logistics costs have been greatly reduced. Both ShareHope and HCCA are expected to be eventually listed on the stock market.

To keep improvements in quality in pace with the facilities expansion, Dr. Yang started recruiting doctors and professors from National Taiwan University such as Prof. Lee Yuan-The and Prof. Chang Yang-Chyuan. Today, nearly 80% of the doctors at Min-Sheng served at NTUH, and the improvement in quality was recognized through Joint Commission International hospital accreditation in 2006.

Dr. Fred Yang has successfully transformed and elevated Min-Sheng from simply operating hospitals to running a healthcare business. He is now ready venture in the Greater China market, and embrace opportunities in the biotechnology field.


Life after retirement

With his son firmly in charge, Dr. Yang Min-Sheng has been able to enjoy happy and carefree retirement. “He -Fred Yang- is accountable for the future of Min-Sheng. I am glad to see that he performs beyond my expectations.” What accompany Dr. Yang Min-Sheng these days are not scalpels and syringes, but books, poems, music, chess, golf, friends, and his wife.

轉自台大雙月刊第73期http://www.alum.ntu.edu.tw/wordpress/?p=10328

Dr. Yang Min-Sheng reflects on his life journey in an interview with the National Taiwan University Alumni Magazine -Part I

Founder and chairman of Min-Sheng Healthcare Network, Dr। Yang Min-Sheng started his business as a one-man surgical clinic 35 years ago। He shared his clinic space with other physicians, so that patients would benefit from doctors of different specialties. Thirty-five years later, Min-Sheng Healthcare Network has become a healthcare enterprise operating 1200 beds. In this article we will learn about the history, growth and evolution of the Min-Sheng Healthcare Network. Its expansion strategies of “sell and lease back” and “merge and acquisition” completely broke the norms of the healthcare industry in Taiwan.

Inspired by Professor Dr. Yang Si-Biao

In 1959, Dr। Yang Min-Sheng graduated from Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, and although he ranked in the top 5 in academic performance, it wasn’t enough to enter the medical school of National Taiwan University (NTU). Fortunately he was admitted to NTU medical school because a prospective student gave up on the opportunity. However back then, Dr. Yang’s real interest was not in medicine but in civil engineering. He didn’t concentrate on his studies and wasted plenty of valuable time outside school. One thing worth mentioning is that he began to learn Japanese which he was able to use later in life while participating in Rotary Club activities.

In his 3rd year in medical school, academic requirements began to be very tough, and he was forced to commit himself to studying in order to survive in the highly competitive medical student group। Not until he began his internship at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) in his 5th year, did he find his passion and enthusiasm toward medicine. Finally in the 7th year, he was top of his class in academic performance and he started to build the confidence required to be a good doctor.

When he started his clinical residency at NTUH, his mentor was Professor Dr। Yang Si-Biao। Professor Yang was a specialist in TB treatment. Back in those days, the technology was not very advanced, and diagnosis was mostly based on physical exams that require experience and expertise from the physician. Professor Yang was a very good role model for Dr. Yang Min-Sheng in terms of medical practice and caring for patients. Dr. Yang Min-Sheng decided to be a good physician like Professor Yang.

Choosing GI surgery as his specialty

For most medical students, surgery is the top choice of specialty, and Dr. Yang Min-Sheng was no exception. He recalls: “A surgeon looks very confident. When patients come to the hospital they look very sick, but they become energetic 2-3 days after surgery… this is so amazing.”

This was a time of constant surgical innovations, such as “finger fracture” for liver surgery created by the famous surgeon Professor Dr. Lin Tien-Yo, or open heart surgery and lung surgery. There were also many opportunities for young surgeons to further study overseas. For all these reasons and the fact that his other mentor, Professor Dr. Hsu Shu-Chien (the one who introduced him to the lady who would later become his wife) specialized in GI surgery, Dr. Yang Min-Sheng chose GI surgery as specialty.

There are many other teachers that Dr. Yang Min-Sheng also appreciated, such as Professor Lin Huai-Shan who taught histology, Professor Yeh Shu who taught pathology, and Professor Yeh Chia-Ying who taught Chinese. Dr. Yang Min-Sheng learned how to be a good physician from these talented and compassionate mentors.

However, the memory of medical school is not all pleasant. Studying biochemistry was a nightmare. He was one of three students who failed in that subject, and Professor Chang Yu-Cheng (also the Chief Officer for Academics) didn’t give him a chance to appeal. “That was the only makeup exam I had in my entire life. The summer of my 2nd year made for the darkest days in my academic life” says Dr. Yang Min-Sheng.

Building confidence from being the leading actor in a stage-play


Dr. Yang Min-Sheng never participated in university extracurricular activities during his 7 years at NTU because of the heavy academic workload and his shy personality. The only exception was that he was accidentally chosen to be the leading actor in a stage-play called “The Ding-Sher Family (meaning: a rich family).” Dr. Yang Min-Sheng played the part of the father in the family and his natural and hilarious acting was loved by the audience. It also gave him the chance to interact with female classmates who had so far seemed to be “inaccessible.” This experience helped Dr. Yang regain his confidence.

Being tired of commuting between Taipei and Taoyuan everyday, he started staying at his classmates’ or private-tutoring students’ places. In his 5th year, he even lived at the medical school’s old library located next to the morgue. Says Dr. Yang: “I didn’t mind it at all. It was a very quiet and a good place for me to study at night.”


TB infection motivated him to open his own hospital

In his 2nd year at NTUH, Dr। Yang contracted tuberculosis (TB) and underwent surgery as an inpatient। Without that experience, he wouldn’t have comprehended the pain and hardship of being a patient. “This happened a day when Professor Chen Kai-Mu (AKA: The Thunder God) told me to insert a patient with a Foley catheter. I was too busy and forgot about it. When Professor Chen visited the patient in her room later after surgery and the patient complained, he yelled at me for being forgetful. At that moment I began to vomit blood and was sent to the operation room immediately by my colleagues.” There he was tied to the surgery table and was inserted a bronchoscope rudely by an ENT doctor. I suffered during the entire examination process. I told myself, I wouldn’t do this to my patients in the future.” said Dr. Yang. Thanks to the operation by Professor Lin Tien-Yo, his disease was cured, however difficulty urinating and emptying his bowels after surgery made Dr. Yang experience the sufferings of being a patient again. He says “I was so bored staying in a hospital. The only things I was looking forward to were the visits by my primary nurse everyday.”

At first his goal was to be a successful plastic surgeon, but he didn’t receive a recommendation from Professor Hsu to study plastic surgery overseas. As a part-time physician at NTUH his income was limited, meanwhile he didn’t receive financial supports from his in-laws anymore. Furthermore, because his history of TB he had to alter his plans of being a physician overseas. Instead, he decided to open his own clinic in his hometown of Taoyuan City.

With his reputation from training at NTUH, Dr. Yang’s surgical clinic attracted many patients and its business did very well. In order to better serve his patients, he opened his clinic space to other specialists. If patients needed a surgery that Dr. Yang couldn’t perform himself, he would invite other specialist to the clinic to operate on them. Thanks to this service, patients no longer needed to travel to Taipei for specialty surgeries and treatments. He also opened several branch hospitals and nursing homes in rural areas of Taoyuan. “When I earned 10 thousand dollars, I dreamed of contributing 50 thousand dollars to society. When I got 100 thousand dollars, I dreamed of contributing more. My goal is to continuously realize dreams.”

Dr. Yang Min-Sheng retired from clinical service two years ago. Over his career he has helped relieve the pains from disease of countless patients, but what always brought Dr. Yang the greatest feeling of accomplishment was to help patients solve their financial difficulties. “In those days physicians had more autonomy and freedom. We could freely decide how to charge a patient. Take an Appendectomy for example; we would charge wealthy patient $30,000. But for a poor patient, a chicken was good enough to pay for the surgery. We robbed the rich and helped the poor. Like a gentleman thief. We often solved the patients’ physical and emotional problems, and won their respects and friendship.” This good patient-physician relationship motivated Dr. Yang Min-Sheng to keep moving.

轉自台大雙月刊第73期http://www.alum.ntu.edu.tw/wordpress/?p=10328

Share-Hope Medicine to work with Penghu Hospital and cooperate on cardiovascular medicine services.

Share-Hope Medicine (8403) officially announced that it will cooperate with Peng-Hu Hospital (operated by the Department of Health) in providing cardiovascular medicine services to the hospital.

Based on an internal information source, the cooperation agreement also calls for other large-scale projects in developing phases. The news is expected to boost the profits of Share-Hope Medicine since the profit margin for medical specialty services exceeds 30%, or twice the business average. Last year, medical specialty services accounted for 6.17% of Share-Hope Medicine revenues, a figure which according to a consensus forecast is set to grow to 10% thanks to the increase in profit margin associated with this type of services (33.5% last year).

The project, officially launched March 1st 2011, is Share-Hope’s first medical specialty joint venture, and its first operation site outside the Taiwan mainland. According to Share-Hope Medicine, the venture with Penghu hospital and other future large-scale projects will be beneficial to the company and contribute to its profitability.

Ninety thousand people live in Peng-Hu County, an archipelago of more than 60 islands located in the Taiwan Straits. Medical resources have historically been limited and Peng-Hu Hospital has received less support from the Department of Health than similar hospitals in Taiwan. Emergency and critical care patients are invariably evacuated to Taiwan’s main-island, which delays the treatment of these patients. According to the census of the Department of Health, total medical expenses related to cardiovascular diseases were around 170 million last year in the county. Nevertheless, there isn’t currently adequate cardiovascular specialty equipment on the islands. Penghu Hospital is the largest hospital in Peng-Hu County, and this cooperation agreement with ShareHope will make it the only hospital in the county to provide cardiovascular medical care. With this agreement Share Hope wants to strengthen the availability and quality of healthcare for the population and visitors of Penghu.

A leading brand of integrated medical supporting service, ShareHope Medicine was officially listed on the stock market March 1st 2011.

Beating of the gong at the celebration ceremony attended by President Yang Min-Sheng, Board Chairman Fred Yang, CEO of GreTai Securities Market Mr. Wu Yu-Qun, and CEO of Capital Securities Corporation Mr. Chow Kang-Ji.





Board Chairman Dr. Fred Yang made a speech

DAISY nurse Jan. 大園敏盛 彭淑梅 Peng Shu Mei

Although Taiwan enjoys a vibrant economy, pockets of poverty still exist and families among minority groups still need help to survive. Mr. and Mrs. Lee are typical examples. Mrs. Lee had been in coma and in the vegetated stage after a stroke and being cared for by her husband at home for months. Ms. Peng Shu-Mei RN, a home care nurse and case manager for the Lee family, played an important role of being a communicator, counselor, moderator, and listener. During July 13th to December 28th 2010, nurse Peng Shu-Mei arranged physician home visits for Mrs. Lee, but also proactively led the care team to brainstorm and tried to figure out the best way to provide more appropriate and individualized care. Here are some examples of her great work:
1. The patient’s need is not the only concern for Ms. Peng. She tried to identify the problems of the whole family by interviewing the patient’s husband, mother, son and brother. She encouraged the entire family to express their concerns and difficulties and helped to obtain resources from the community.
2. After identifying family’s financial difficulty, Ms. Peng helped the patient obtain a free O2 concentrator machine, a nebulizer, and other medical devices, and educated the family members about the usage, cleaning, and maintenance of those devices.
3. During home visits, Ms. Peng also discovered the pressure and psychological burden of the primary caregiver. She provided adequate mental support and encouragement for Mr. Lee. She assisted Mr. Lee to do “life review” about Mrs. Lee. By doing so, she encouraged Mr. Lee to build a positive attitude toward life.
4. She proactively contacted social service that helped located a charity long term care center that can take ventilator patient.
5. She obtained free ambulance for the patient's transport to the center, helping to lighten the family’s financial burden even more.


Thanks to Nurse Peng’s efforts, now Mrs. Lee has settled down in a charity institution. Mr. Lee was able to get a job and can still visits Mrs. Lee very often.


Details matter. Ms. Peng distinguished herself by paying close attention to the plight and taking care of the whole family of the patient, and not only conducting routine nursing works. Nurse Peng has been an employee of Min-Sheng Health System for 12 years. She has constantly take care the patient and family in an exceptional manner and performed beyond her job responsibilities. She has consistently gone out of her to helping others. She deserves the DAISY award because she met the MS health care core values of trust, professionalism, innovation, excellence, and sharing. Her performance inspired other nurses, and reminded other nurses the reason for choosing nursing as a profession, which is to be the guardian to the patient and family.

The Third Min-Sheng Cup Baseball Tournament

The "Min-Sheng Cup Baseball Tournament," funded by Min-Sheng Health Care System and co-sponsored by the Taoyuan County Government, entered its third year at eight o’clock on November 13, 2010. The grand opening took place at the Taoyuan International Stadium and was attended by leading local government personalities such as Taoyuan County Governor Mr. Wu Zhi-Yang and Taoyuan City Mayor Mr. Su Chia-Ming, who expressed their support for the event. Min-Sheng’s Chairman Dr. Yang Min-Sheng also called on hundreds of colleagues to join the festival.

To kick-off the show, the Aviation City Baseball Team led by their head coach Mr. Li Ju-ming performed a choreography to the tune of a popular song. Although many Min-Sheng staff were not able to attend this event, they still expressed their enthusiasm and cheered by participating in the "Go~Min-Sheng Cup" Video, which was produced by the staff themselves.

Asked about the reason for launching the Min-Sheng Cup Baseball Tournament three years ago, Chairman Yang replied “Because we have the vision of developing more local baseball players like Wang Jian-Ming”. In his speech, recalling the establishment of the 2000-beds Min-Sheng Healthcare System from scratch 35 years ago, he expressed his sincere appreciation to those who ever helped him. Supporting the game of baseball, which fills the dreams of many children, is another way to show his appreciation.

According to the Taoyuan the County Sports Committee Chief Officer Mr. Liao, the funding provided by Min-Sheng greatly enhanced the morale of many baseball teams. Thanks to these subsidies, the teams can be accommodated comfortably when they join tournaments abroad, and their coaches have greater confidence to lead the team to perform at their best.

Chief Art Officer and director of this event, Ms. Yang Yi-Shan, said that over the years the competition has been expanded to include teams from little league to senior league, and big league. Although originally limited to teams from Taoyuan County, the tournament now also attracts teams from Hshin-Chu, Miaoli and Taipei counties. “Although Min-Sheng’s financial contribution is not significant, its influence and vision may last long”, said Ms. Yang. Along with the baseball games are other activities designed to attract public attention and support for the tournament. The closing ceremony is scheduled for December 5, 2010, and will be followed by a fund-raising concert December 12.

Johns Hopkins Faculty speak on Public Health at Min-Sheng General Hospital

Saturday December 23, Min-Sheng general Hospital played host to an international symposium on Public Health Policy jointly organized with the Taoyuan County Public Health Bureau. The organizing committee had invited prominent academics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the world’s leading institution dedicated to the training of public health professionals, to share their experience on a variety of topics.


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Dr. James Yager, Professor in Preventive Medicine at the School, spoke about environmental determinants of cancer and possible strategies for the prevention of certain types of cancer. Rapid industrialization and the life style changes resulting from economic development are contributing to make cancer a global health problem; Dr. Yager elaborated on the opportunities and challenges for prevention that this presents.

Dr. Leiyu Shi, Professor in Health Policy and Management and co-director at The Johns Hopkins Primary Care Policy Center for the Underserved, told about the benefits of advancing primary care to improve community health. The topic is particularly relevant at a time when health care costs are spiraling out of control in many countries and governments are looking for ways to rein in expenditure.

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Dr. Chiang Tung-Liang, Professor and Dean of the College of Public Health at National Taiwan University and one of the fathers of the National Health Insurance in Taiwan, presented the achievements and short comings of the universal coverage system, and looked at the future of public health in the ROC and at the challenges still laying in the way of health equity.

For Min-Sheng General Hospital the symposium was another opportunity to reaffirm its commitment towards improving the health of the population of Taoyuan County, while raising its profile and profess its international ambitions.

The Dialysis Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital serves local patients and foreign visitors alike.

When Prince Court Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, looked for a dialysis center to treat one of its patients planning a trip to Taiwan, it contacted Min-Sheng General hospital to make the arrangements. This episode underlines the plight of thousands of people with renal problems who require dialysis several times a week, whether they are at home or traveling abroad. People with such conditions should not be deterred from traveling; they just need more planning and attention.

The Dialysis Center at Min-Sheng Hospital is the perfect place for this type of travelers. The 56-bed center is equipped with the latest Fresenius machines and is staffed with four nephrologists, forty-two nurses and two technicians. The center which offers Conventional Hemodialysis, High efficiency Hemodialysis, High flux hemodialysis, and Peritoneal Dialysis is open six days a week (from Monday to Saturday) from 7:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night for the greatest convenience of the patients.
With a focus on quality care and safety, the center implements strict infection control procedures; hollow fibers membranes are single-use only, all the equipment goes through stringent daily monitoring and is maintained by a team of in-house experienced technicians. In 2009, Min-Sheng General Hospital’s Dialysis Center was surveyed by Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of Joint Commission the body that reviews all hospitals in the USA, and became the first hospital in the world to be awarded CCP (Clinical Care Program) Certification for its chronic kidney disease program.

Foreign visitors in need of dialysis treatment while staying in Taiwan are welcome to the center. Advance booking is required and treatment can be tailored to meet personal requirements. People interested in using the services of the Dialysis Center should contact the International Healthcare Department of Min-Sheng General Hospital that will make the necessary arrangements.

Min-Sheng General Hospital receives Gold Award for English Service

Min-Sheng general Hospital was presented with the Gold Award for English Services by the Executive Yuan, the of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The award is given to Taiwanese institutions and businesses that offer English-friendly environment and service to their patrons, following a thorough investigation by the China Productivity Center that includes on-site visits by English speaking foreigners.
Min-Sheng General Hospital embarked several years ago in a program aimed at turning the hospital into an international center of excellence. An International Health care Center was established to lead and assist in the changes, and become the service platform between Min-Sheng and its international patients and partners. Foreign patients at Min-Sheng General Hospital will find English signage throughout the hospital, most documents (e.g. doctors and fees schedules, medicine instruction sheets, admission and consent forms, etc.) in English, and staff proficient in several languages ready to assist with translation if necessary. The hospital also set up an English website and two blogs to inform foreigners living in Taiwan and abroad about its services and activities.

Patients who travel to Min-Sheng General Hospital from overseas for surgical packages organized by the hospital’s International Health care Center are assigned an English speaking case manager who assists them at every step of their stay, ensuring seamless service and a comfortable experience.

The Unheralded Hero. Lab Technician Mr. Chang has been donating blood for years

During Min-Sheng General Hospital’s 35th anniversary celebrations a 33 years old lab technician, Mr. Chang Song-Haw, was commended for his long term contribution to hundreds of patients who need blood transfusions. During the past 10 years, he has donated his blood about 280 times, providing nearly 70,000 c.c. of blood platelets. Giving blood every other week, it has become a habit of Mr. Chang’s daily life, and as a lab technician it has become a second career.

His determination began when Mr. Chang served in the military in Kin-Men where medical resources were very limited. After witnessing servicemen lose their life due to a lack of available transfusion blood, Mr. Chang became committed to save other’s lives by donating his own blood. After completing his military service, he became a frequent guest at blood donation stations.

What Mr. Chang donated was not regular whole blood but blood platelets. This usually makes for a more painful experience and a longer recovery time. The needles used to draw blood have left marks and scars on his arms, but Mr. Chang says with a smile of accomplishment: “Although it hurts, I will still keep doing it. A little piece contributed by everyone will make a big difference to make the world better”.

His persistence truly makes him an unheralded hero who deserves recognition.

Min-Sheng celebrates its 35th anniversary with the community

Min-Sheng Healthcare System celebrated its 35th anniversary July 20, 2010, marking more than a third of a century of service to the people of Taoyuan. At exactly ten o’clock in the morning the celebration started with a stairwell race and a reunion of twins born at Min-Sheng Hospital over the past few years.

Min-Sheng’s President and founder, Dr. Yang Min-Sheng, accompanied by Min-Sheng General Hospital’s superintendent, Dr. Chang Yang-Chyan, presided over the ceremony. Among the various representatives of the local government and the community that also attended were Mr. Lee, Deputy Magistrate of Taoyuan County and Mr. Su Jia-Ming, Mayor of Taoyuan City.

President Yang expressed his gratitude for the long-time support and encouragements from the community. Over the past 35 years, the scope of health care services offered by Min-Sheng Health care System has mirrored the growth and development of the Taoyuan community. Dr. Yang pointed out that “The Min-Sheng Health care system could not have been successful without the trust and compassion of the people from the Taoyuan community”.

Twins and babies born prematurely at Min-Sheng Hospital in recent years helped cut the birthday cake before treading the cat walk for a fashion show, while their mothers were exchanging advice and experience on raising twins.
Participants to the stairwell race walked 1200 steps up and down the hospital’s 23 floors. This activity was part of the “Green Life” campaign that encourages people to climb stairs rather than use elevators in order to save electricity. Officers from the Taoyuan Police Bureau and Fire department also joined in the race.

Wishing you’d attended this year’s events? Don’t worry; you’ll get another opportunity next year.

Congratulations! Smart Care Health Care Services Reaches 5000 Members

Having only been formally launched in December of last year, Smart Care Intelligent Health Care Services already has more than 5000 members. Smart Care uses health care professionals in conjunction with information technology, personalized medical care and home remote management. This innovative concept of medical care services, termed houspital (House + Hospital), is the new standard for fully discharged patients who suffer from chronic diseases.

Smart Care has been added to Min-Sheng’s service network of institutions which includes Min-Sheng General Hospital, Sheng Hong Pharmaceutical Co., Min-Sheng’s Da Yuan campus,the Jing-Guo campus VIP Health Clinic, Min-Sheng’s long term nursing care agencies, five network hospitals and Min-Sheng’s community pharmacy services. All of these form a service network which provides a continuum of care for patients, enhancing the quality of health care services. Moreover, Min-Sheng’s JCI designation continues to serve the spirit of medical care while also symbolizing its commitment to giving patients a peace of mind.
Members of Smart Care can 1) use phone services 2) internet services 3) and automatic transmission measuring instruments that can upload physiological information based on their physical health. Members also have access to telephone care, health management services, appointment reminders, and telephone hotline services for consultation. The traditional medical model of risk management can be difficult to understand after discharge, therefore by using information communication technology and innovative service concepts, the hospital moves from passive to active, and even if the patients are at home, they have complete control of their physical health conditions, opening up a new type of doctor-patient relationship.
Smart Care is located in the basement of Min-Sheng’s Jing-Guo campus. The center is an important base for the development of remote health care. It also provides a comfortable environment where patients can enjoy free blood sugar and blood pressure measurements.
General Manager Xu commented that Smart Care is shaping the future of health care services. He estimates that as early as 2015, everyone will be able to have their physiological information automatically uploaded. By then, the role of health care providers and the doctor-patient relationship will have been completely transformed!

Da-Yuan Min-Sheng Hospital Celebrates 18 Years of Quality Cardiopulmonary Service

Da-Yuan Min-Sheng Hospital was established 18 years ago on April 6. This 18 year anniversary happens to coincide with Min-Sheng Health Care System’s 35 year anniversary. In response to the population structure and changes in the health care system, Da-Yuan Hospital has evolved from an outpatient and community based hospital to a long-term care service provider. Min-Sheng’s Chairman Yang stated, “Da-Yuan Hospital has steadily grown its business in recent years, while becoming an integral part of the system’s overall development strategy.”
Dr. Hong-Ren Yang, who previously served as president of Da-Yuan Hospital, said that the successful transformation of the hospital over the past three years has produced outstanding results. He also thanked colleagues and fellow villagers for paying their support! He hopes to more accurately position the hospital, providing residents with the most consistent and high quality services. Current hospital president, Dr. Chang, said his team will establish goals for the future while meeting health care policies and assessing the feasibility of restoring emergency services.
The anniversary celebration was held on April 8 in the district hospital lobby. Some of the activities included watching a video of the hospitals transformation and growth over the years, recognition of outstanding senior staff, a birthday ceremony, a charity event, free blood pressure and blood glucose measurements and a concert performed by local elementary school students. The proceeds from the charity event held that day will be donated to those living in the Da-Yuan rural community so they can receive medical care.

Chung-Li Min-Sheng Hospital Off to a Great Start!

Following phase 1 of an NTD100 million hospital project begun on September 4th, 2009, the second phase of the project, the construction of the nursing home, began on March 26 with an 11 am groundbreaking ceremony. The project, which is expected to be completed in 2 months time, will provide 98 professional nursing care services to cope with the increasing disability and dementia care needs of Chung-Li residents.
Nursing home care can cover patients ranging in age from 0 to 99 years old. According to Ministry of the Interior, by the end of 2009, as many as 70,000 handicapped residents lived in Taoyuan County, many of them with very severe disabilities; however, the county only has a capacity to care for about 20 thousand disabled. Stay care facilities have a minimum age restriction of 60 years, but there are over 42,000 residents over the age of 60 with disabilities living in the county. Min-Sheng hopes to mitigate this problem by providing a convenient, central location, with a professional medical team backed up by quality nursing homes to provide better continuity of care, becoming a trusted choice for families.

Based on this idea, Chairman Yang decided to establish two major sections in the new Chung-Li center: a hospital and a nursing home. In addition to providing a full range of medical services, the hospital will have a strong medical team from National Taiwan University, and include services such as cardiovascular surgery, gastroenterology, renal medicine, neurology, family medicine, diabetes care, family medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, urology, ophthalmology and dialysis. More importantly, the Min-Sheng Health Care System will supply social workers from its Long-Term Care Division as part of the professional care team, ensuring the best quality care.
Long-Term Care Division Vice President Peng Xuan said, “The new nursing home area will add an additional 30,000 square feet of space to the general nursing home. Seeing that between 3% and 5% of residents suffer from varying degrees of dementia, this section has been specifically designed for different activities related to dementia, helping resolve dementia related problems such as security problems. They will also strengthen professional training services to provide better care for those suffering from dementia. Another important feature is providing single and double rooms designed to protect the privacy needs of residents while meeting the business philosophy of the chairman: ‘Don’t just cure, but care as well,’ ‘dedication to the implementation of dignity,’ ‘longevity and health,’ and ‘happiness is a principle of service.’”
Min-Sheng’s Long-Term Care Division currently has four locations and a total of 565 long-term care beds and after the new addition at the Chung-Li Nursing Home, it will have more than 663 beds.

Overseas Chinese Medical Professionals Visit Min-Sheng

On March 18, 2010, on the recommendation of the Executive Yuan, a delegation of 30 medical workers from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission visited Min-Sheng to observe the results of its international and innovative health care services.

In recent years, two major areas of strategic development at Min-Sheng have been quality and innovation.
Min-Sheng has largely achieved this goal by becoming the first hospital in Taiwan to become JCI and JCIDSC accredited.

In addition to getting a detailed description of Min-Sheng’s history, the itinerary also included a description of the current health care system, the challenges of becoming JCI accredited, diversification, successful integration with international medical institutions, and finally the development of strategic cross-border alliances. Afterward the delegation took a tour of the Medical Cosmetic Center, VIP Health Center, and the Telemedicine Center. The members of the delegation were especially interested in Smart Care Inc. and appreciative of General Manager Xu Mingxin’s explanation of the innovative services arising from telecare.