To improve the scarce allocation of medical resources to Hsinchu County’s rural areas, the County government’s Public Health Bureau (PHB) co-organized the project “Healthy City Series—Age-friendly City’s Hospital Shuttle Bus” with Xinfeng Township Office, Xinfeng Township Public Health Office, Ton-Yen General Hospital, Xin-Ren Hospital and Da-An Hospital. The medical shuttle service was launched and unveiled by Magistrate Chiu Ching-Chun and Director-general of PHB Yin Dong-Cheng at the front square of Xinfeng Township Office, aiming to provide the elderly with more convenient shuttle services and an accessible and age-friendly medical environment.
Seeing the County’s limited medical resources and inconvenient transportation to downtown hospitals for residents in rural areas, Magistrate Chiu stated that the County government has been devoted to creating an age-friendly living environment and offering convenient transportation services to elders while they are in needs of medical care through the integration of governmental and social resources. The County’s pioneering services of medical shuttles will be released on June 12, departing from Xinfeng’s Sanyuang Temple and stopping at 17 stops such as Ton-Yen General Hospital, Xin-Ren Hospital and Da-An Hospital, etc. Aiming at meeting the County residents’ needs for medical attention, the medical shuttle is expected to upgrade the medical services and to shape Hsinchu County into an age-friendly, livable and healthy city.
Xinfeng Township is located at the north end of Hsinchu County, and its elderly population accounts for 9% of the total, declared the PHB’s Director-general Yin. Yin added that for a long time, the village residents living near the coast have been suffering from the inconvenience of traveling and inaccessibility to local medical care since the routes of Hsinchu Bus merely cover the areas of downtown and local golf course. With the free medical shuttle, the County residents will be able to reach Zhubei City’s medical institutions via a ride, thus bettering their quality of life, health and medical care.
The Xinfeng Line of medical shuttle will announce its official launch on June 12 (Thursday), and will hit the road every Thursday. The shuttle will depart from Sanyuang Temple at 7:50 AM and stop at 17 stops, including Ruixing Elementary School, 9th Neighborhood of Qingpu Village, Fulong Temple, Qingpuzi, Houhu Community, Houcu, Puhe Elementary School (Potou Village), Dazhuang Village, Xiagu Liao, Chihe Temple, Xinfeng Township Health Station, Ronghua New Village, Wellcome Supermarkets, Xin-Ren, Da-An Hospital, Hsinchu County Government, and Ton-Yen General Hospital, across 8 villages in Xinfeng (Zhonglun Village, Ruixing Village, Qingpu Village, Fuxing Village, Houhu Village, Puhe Village, Potou Village, and Xinfeng Village) with one hour drive for a single leg of the trip. The shuttle will go on a return trip from Zhubei’s Xin-Ren Hospital at 11:10AM along the same route.
Source: Wei Shu-Ping, Section Chief of Medical Affairs Section, Hsinchu County government’s Public Health Bureau
Tel: 03-5518160 ext. 250
Writer: Chen Chang-Shun, Press Section