TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's emergency rooms face a looming crisis as medical experts sound the alarm over a critical shortage of emergency physicians that threatens to undermine the island's healthcare system. Despite a modest increase in numbers over the past five years, the emergency medicine workforce has stagnated at approximately 1,700 specialists, according to Hung Tzu-jen (洪子仁), vice president of Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital (新光醫院), one of Taipei's major medical centers. Hung warned on Monday (June 9) that the persistently low figures signal deeper structural problems within Taiwan's emergency care network that could compromise patient outcomes if left unaddressed.
The demographic composition of Taiwan's emergency physician workforce presents additional concerns, with Hung pointing to a steadily rising average age among practitioners. This aging trend coincides with deteriorating working conditions characterized by chronically overcrowded emergency departments, persistent staffing shortages, diminishing bed availability, and increasingly lengthy patient wait times. These systemic pressures create a negative feedback loop, Hung explained, noting that challenging work environments actively discourage medical school graduates from pursuing emergency medicine specializations. Healthcare administrators and government officials must recognize these warning signs of an accelerating workforce exodus before the situation reaches a critical tipping point.
The staffing crisis appears poised to worsen in the immediate future, according to recent professional surveys. Dr. Tian Zhi-xue (田知學), who directs the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Cheng Hsin General Hospital (振興醫院), a prominent healthcare facility in northern Taiwan, shared troubling projections compiled by the Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine. The organization's internal survey anticipates an unprecedented wave of departures from the field, with 66 emergency physicians expected to resign in May alone. The exodus shows no signs of abating, with more than 50 additional specialists predicted to leave their positions before the year concludes, potentially reducing the workforce by nearly 7 percent in a single year. ◼