I am very happy today to be in Yunlin, attending the groundbreaking ceremony of National Taiwan University Hospital's Yunlin branch. I am very relieved and proud to see that there will be a large medical center in the future in southern Taiwan and people living there would be able to enjoy high quality medical care, narrowing the gap between urban and rural living standards.
Yunlin County is the hub of Taiwan's western plain, and is well known for providing all kinds of good quality agricultural produce to the entire island. The revenue and produce of the farming sector have considerably increased through the efforts of each of you. To follow the trend of globalization and informationalization, I hope Yunlin County could undertake multi-direction and multi-management development in the future.
Health and education are important human rights. In the past, people in Yunlin County were forced to leave their hometown to seek medical help or education as medical and higher education resources were not fairly distributed. However, under the continuous efforts of various health departments, the medical system in Yunlin County has seen much improvement. As an example, the Yunlin Hospital under the Department of Health of the Executive Yuan has changed its name into the National Taiwan University Hospital's Yunlin Branch in April last year.
Upon the availability of medical resources, medical care level was soon lifted considerably, bringing more convenience to two million people living in the region of Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi.
Particularly, with the assistance given by the late Yunlin County magistrate Su Wen-hsiung, a land of 54 hectares was provided to the hospital for the new constructions as well as a promised contribution of NT$2 billion for the new site, enabling you to enjoy comprehensive medical care and extensive educational facilities without leaving your hometown.
Construction of the Humei Division of National Taiwan University Hospital's Yunlin Branch is expected to be completed in two years after the groundbreaking ceremony today. Since the demographic structure of Yunlin County is inclining towards an aging society, Yunlin is in need of providing more care to chronic diseases and cancer patients.
In the future, the Huwei Division will be made into a hospital specialized in cancer treatment, especially in the prevention of liver cancer, which is what the people there need the most, and the division will be different from other hospitals in management and operation.
The Toulu Division and Humei Division of the Yunlin Branch will merge their operations and eventually to become a medical center in the future. I also hope that after the merger of these two divisions, more equipment and personnel would be available to turn it into a medical center to offer better medical care to people in the neighboring communities. At the same time, I also hope that with the establishment of the Humei Division of the Yunlin Branch, cancer patients in the county and neighboring communities will get better medical care and the local authorities can trim their social care costs, leading to the ultimate prosperity and progress of this region.
In conclusion, I would especially like to express my gratitude to acting magistrate Lee, to the County Council as well as the members of the National Taiwan University Hospital for your presence. I would like to thank all of you for your continuous efforts, allowing Yunlin's medical quality to be brought to a new level. Meanwhile, I would like to wish all the compatriots health and luck.