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Words from the
Superintendent |
| Yuli Tzu Chi General Hospital located beside No.9 Highway of Taiwan, is the first branch of Tzu Chi medicine missions. Heading north from south on the Yuli Bridge, you may see the new location of Yuli Tzu Chi General Hospital. As for the old hospital presented in Da-Ai Drama, Omnipresence, it is located in the Yuli downtown, 200km away from the new location. |
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Yuli is located in the middle of the East Rift Valley, around 100m away from Hualien (North) and Taitung (South). In the early time, pineapple processing factories are main income source. Gradually, population flowed away. Most young generation works in the north or west and the elderly and children are left in the communities or tribes. Population is getting aging and the problem of grandfather/grandmother cultivation is serious. Once, a 95-year-old woman was delivered to the emergency room because of falling and fracture. When medical staff asked her about disease history and her family, she mentioned that her son (75 years old) worked at the farmland and a six-year-old took care of her at home. Thus, the kid called his grandfather (75 years old) to see his great-grandmother.
Before Yuli Tzu Chi General Hospital was inaugurated, most of people complained that they find no doctors after Friday. All doctors took day-offs. Also, communication traffic is unavailable, local people were used to tolerate pain. They did not call 911 until the illness seriously worsened. Even Yuli Tzu Chi General Hospital opened, most of the elderly lived in mountains still have this thought. Maybe because the advertising of the new hospital is insufficient, it is not easy for the elderly lived in mountains to get new information.
I appreciate that Master Cheng Yen mentions the ideas of compassion and life-respect. Besides globalization, she also advocates medicine generalization. Because of her, in this area with low population density, the biggest small hospital was founded. Total floor areas are 7502.11square meter with 60 beds and around one hundred staff members. The philosophy of this hospital is Humanity-medicine and Life-respect and Safeguarding life, health and love. Life only exists during exhaling and breathing. If patients live in mountains, they have to drive more than 100 km on the No.9 Highway of Taiwan to Hualien or Taitung. Thus, the acute medicine here is very important and required.
The specialties include Microneurosurgy, Orthopedics, GI Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Anesthesiology, Cardiology and Gastroenterology, forming an acute medicine team. All doctors stand by for 24 hours. Although acute patients are not many, one doctor from each internal and external medicine remains in the emergency room for 24 hours. All staff members sacrifice themselves to save life exhaustedly. So far, the brain surgeries caused by traffic accidents, other accidents, cerebral haemorrhage and ruptured intracranial aneurysm has reached over 100 cases. Even the beds are full or other specialties are required such as CVS surgery, the hospital will stabilize patients and go referral, being the front line hospital and increasing the chances of saving life. Because we work step by step, in the field of acute medicine, the hospital is approved by the administrators of Department of Health and pointed as a responsible hospital of emergency medicine in the south of Hualien.
The style of this hospital is a community hospital. Besides safeguarding life and saving life, we work on people’s health from children to the elderly, all our targets. Human suffers from unfortunate matters. Pain from illness is the most intolerant. To enhance the accessibility and availability of medical care, we have 24-hour emergency treatment and also convenient clinic service for early-bird people. To alleviate the pain before people work or go to school, we have early-morning clinic services from 6 to 8 am. Everyday, we have around 10 early patients and sometimes 20. Local people are now saying, “It is so nice to have Tzu Chi here. No countries have such early clinic services. It is so convenient.” The clinic services begin 8am to 10pm. With limited medical resource, I admired staff members to devote themselves to the medical service.
Prevention is more important than cure. Preventive medicine is also an essential part in our community hospital. From hygiene education of elementary school, community hygiene education, vaccination to infection control, we do all for people’s health. When working on Influenza Vaccination, staff members understand that most of the elderly lives in remote area and are busy so they actively serve them in mountain tribes. At the first day, staff members (including doctors, nurses, pharmacist and administrators) had been in tribes before 6 am, vaccinating for over 65-year-old people. The staff members were volunteer and the time spent in travel was not counted in working hours. After the service, they happily went back to the hospital. Their attitudes are just like what Master Cheng Yen said, “Work willingly and accept the results joyfully.” Walking into communities shortens the distance between doctors and patients and reaches the goal of patient orientation.
When the earthquake happened in Pakistan, one student witnessed the catastrophe, the hell on earth and saw people suffered from various injuries. At that time, she made a wish to become a doctor, saving her people in Pakistan. Her wish is the same with Kshitigarbha’s. Although there are lots of sufferings on earth, Bodhisattva accompanies us among unfortunate matters. I believed that every medical staff member is a Bodhisattva on earth. The first thought all came from compassion. However, it is easy to be enthusiastic, but difficult to be persistent. When medicine becomes merchandise and patients become consumers, the love from the first thought will gradually disappear. That Albert Schweitzer devoted himself to people in remote areas of Africa and Nightingale took care of patients will turn into mythology. Those great people had passed away for a long time and the prototype only existed in the past. Fortunately, in Yuli Tzu Chi General Hospital, we appreciated that groups medical staff members give up modern life in cities and settle in the East Rift Valley, like injecting cardiac stimulants into this barren land of medical resource.
Safeguarding the love on earth—the great love is another important mission.
Volunteers are guardian angels of love—“Medical team, Volunteer escorts”. Tzu Chi medicine is full of humanity. Sometimes people question why Tzu Chi built hospitals on certain places. They don’t know that the Tzu Chi hospitals are not running a business but cultivating blessing lands which turn medicine from cold products into warm care with humanity and love. This is why Tzu Chi volunteers desires to work in the Tzu Chi Hospital rather than other institutions. They are cultivating blessing lands and thinking they are doing good things so they call their friends and gather everyone’s effort. In this way, people’s life and health become safer than before. Any patient-oriented hospitals are not afraid of good things done by other people. We always said, “One thousand eyes to see the suffering in the world and one thousand hands to reach out and help.” The reason why Blue Angel appears beside sufferers is the great love. Besides taking care of the first thought by humanity activities, we hope to create echo, touching people’s hearts, feeling gratitude, respecting to each other and building a trust and love relationship between doctors and patients.
This hospital is the center of community health empowerment in the Yuli county and passed SGS-Group inspection, obtaining ISO 9001 certification for service quality. A complete community care needs time to manager and many Bodhisattvas to participate in
Finally, I appreciate that Master Cheng Yen creates the Tzu Chi world where we can make best use of our ability.
Appreciate! |
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