On January 25, Premier Jung-Tai Cho inspected the Urgent Care Center (UCC) in Da-Yuan Min-Sheng Hospital. Premier Cho was accompanied by Executive Yuan Spokesperson Hui-Chih Lee, Minister Chung-Liang Shih of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Director General Lian-Yu Chen of the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA), Taoyuan City Deputy Mayor Ming-Jiuh Wang, Director General Wei Jia of Taoyuan City's Department of Public Health, and other municipal officials. Premier Cho aimed to address the public's healthcare needs, ensure capacity preparedness for the Lunar New Year holiday, and express his appreciation to healthcare professionals.
In the meantime, emergency patient visits during Lunar New Year holidays are about 1.5 to 1.7 times compared to those on a regular weekday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare launched the Lunar New Year Preparedness Project, with four key strategies: early response, patient diversion, healthcare capacity expansion, and zone defense reinforcement. This project aims to ensure that critical patients receive the necessary care, patients with minor conditions have accessible treatment options, hospitals are not overcrowded, and medication use remains uninterrupted. These objectives will be achieved through early and comprehensive preparation.
Director General Lian-Yu Chen of the NHIA also emphasized that the NHIA will utilize NT$1.6 billion from the funds of "other department" of the global budget to expand the incentive program for healthcare institutions and medical professionals providing healthcare services during the holiday. For hospitals, a 100% add-on fee will be applied for emergency care, in-patient consultation, nursing, and pharmaceutical service fees during the entire holiday. A 100% add-on fee will be applied from February 16 to February 19; 50% on February 20 and 21; 30% on February 14, 15, and 22. To ensure that the incentive reaches frontline medical professionals, it is mandatory to allocate 80% of the reimbursement to relevant medical professionals.
A total of 13 UCCs have been established across Taiwan's six municipalities since November 2025. The majority of patients who visited UCCs had urgent mid to mild conditions, including fever, respiratory symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and minor traumatic wounds. To date, the UCCs have served over 4,800 patient visits. Among these visits, approximately 40% were for respiratory symptoms, 13% for minor traumatic injuries, and about 5% for pediatric care.