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In the fall of 1957, the Veterans Affairs Commission (VAC) of the Republic
of China co-opted the land used by the 2nd aftercare battalion of the ROC army to
build the buildings for this hospital as a way to implement the policy of veteran
aftercare. The construction of those buildings was done in the summer of 1958. On
July 1st of the same year, it was officially named “Puli Veterans Hospital of Taiwan”.
In June 1960, PVH began its policlinic service in the downtown of Puli Township.
On March 20th, 1963, under the command of the VAC, the words “of Taiwan” were deleted
from the official name of the hospital; and its full name became “Puli Veterans
Hospital, VAC, Executive Yuan”. In July, 1969, the Lishan Branch of PVH was established.
On September 1st, 1985, the Lishan Branch of PVH was ordered to transfer its affiliation
to the Taichung Branch of Veterans General Hospital (known as Taichung Veterans
General Hospital today), the name of the branch was also changed to Lishan Medical
Center, Veterans General Hospital, Taichung Branch.
Originally, PVH was assessed
as a treating hospital for tuberculosis and was designed to take care of tuberculosis
patients from the former 2nd aftercare battalion of the army. PVH also began to
receive new tuberculosis patients since its opening and treated them with standard
tuberculosis treatment procedure. In the beginning, PVH contained 500 sickbeds and
was ordered to expand to 1000 sickbeds in 1963. Some of the wooden wards were ordered
to suspend their service in 1972 due to safety concerns, so the capacity was then
reduced to 666 sickbeds. In 1978, all the tuberculosis patients in PVH were transferred
to Wanciao Tuberculosis Hospital, and PVH was modified to be a general hospital.
In 1980, the authorities assessed PVH as a 700-sickbed hospital. PVH then set up
its paralysis ward in 1981 to improve its service to veterans suffering from paralysis.
The capacity of the hospital was then expanded to 760 sickbeds in July, 1982; 60 of those were reserved specially for patients transferred from various clinics nearby.
On July 18th, 1995, the Department of Health assessed that the capacity of PVH was
800 sickbeds, including 180 for general wards, 20 for acute psychosis wards, and
600 for chronic disease wards.
In 2001, PVH set up 20 sickbeds for acute psychiatric
patients. Later that year, 50 more beds were set up for chronic psychiatrics patients.
In 2002, 42 beds were initiated for general chronic disease patients and 40 beds
for patients with respiratory problems. In 2003, a total of 48 beds were set up
for patients who need long-term respiratory care. In 2004, a total of 100 beds were
initiated for patients who need daytime psychiatric care. Up to this moment, PVH
has 100 beds for general acute disease patients, 20 for acute psychiatric ones,
50 for chronic psychiatric ones, 24 for general chronic disease ones, 99 for patients
with special needs, 400 beds for patients on government budget and 100 beds for
patients who need daytime care. The total capacity now is 873 sickbeds.
In the beginning,
PVH received 8 small wooden wards along with affiliated buildings like offices,
an auditorium and a kitchen. VAC also helped build 4 wards with brick walls, a policlinic
building, an operation room, a warehouse and a staff dormitory through official
bidding process. In 1963, PVH was ordered to expand its capacity and 3 large wards
were built for that. A medical supply room, a boiler room, a nurses’ dormitory and
a ward for generals were also built soon after that. In 1983, the construction of
a general auditorium and a two-story ward was accomplished. In 1986, 2 more two-story
wards, a modern kitchen and a doctor’s dormitory were built; along with those buildings,
the Veteran’s Garden was also built for the recreation of our patients. At that
time, all the important buildings PVH needed were completed. In 1990, PVH was granted
by the authorities to be enlisted as a part in the “Phase-2 Project for National
Medical Network” in the 6-Year National Construction Agenda and was given an opportunity
to make itself a truly grand modern hospital. In 1992, the construction for the
General Medical Building started. In March 1993, the Hemodialysis
Center began to
provide its service to all patients who need that service. In 1995, all the new
constructions projects were completed. In 1996, the General Medical Building was
officially opened for service. In 1999, new sets of dormitories were completed;
the inter-connective corridor, the Pathological Anatomy Room and the deep-water
well processor were also accomplished. On September 21 of the same year, a major
earthquake with its epicenter in nearby area caused tremendous damages to some of
the buildings in PVH. The restoration projects for the General Policlinic Building
and the Chronic Psychiatric Ward were accomplished in the year 2000. In 2003, the
construction of Green Housing, school improvement project, the new library and research
room, the corridor on the second floor and the expansion of Intensive Care Unit
were all completed.
The first superintendent of PVH was Mr. Shu-ben Wu. Although
Mr. Wu only served for a year, he not only established important institutions for
PVH but also contributed much to the design of the hospital. The second superintendent
was Mr. Ji-xian Zhu; he served as the superintendent of PVH for 17 years. He finished
the construction projects for staff dormitory, nurse’s dormitory, the auditorium,
veteran’s kitchen and the clinic for civilian outpatients. He was also in charge
of the establishment of the Lishan Branch in 1969; he truly laid the foundation
for all the important infrastructure in PVH. The third superintendent was Mr. Jhong-min
Jhu, who served for 12 years in PVH. Aside from finishing the construction of the
General Auditorium, two two-story wards and the doctor’s dormitory, he also paid
attention to the recreational needs of the patients. For that, he constructed the
Veterans’ Garden installed televisions inside veterans’ wards and established the
first library in PVH. His contribution and care to veteran patients received compliments
from all sides. The fourth superintendent was Mr. Jia-mo Peng, who served for 7
years in PVH. During his term, he added a tremendous quantity of medical facilities
and recruited many professional talents to work in PVH, expanding the original 3
departments of policlinic services (medicine, surgery and dentistry) to 18 departments
(including neurosurgery). He also helped promote PVH from a general hospital to
a regional teaching hospital. In 1990, he personally designed and supervised the
improvement construction project of the whole hospital and successfully gave PVH
a brand new look. The fifth superintendent was Mr. Shan-zhang Zhao, who served for
3 and half years in PVH. During his term, we moved into the new building, restored
some old buildings, roads in the peripheral area and the parking lot. He also constructed
6 dormitories, the Biological Anatomy Room, the Psychiatric Building, the Chung
Cheng Park, a garage, a water purifying unit, the fence around PVH and the demolishment
of some old buildings. He also planted various flowers and tree to make PVH look
more like a garden than a hospital. He also added the policlinics for neurosurgery,
psychiatrics and oncology so that we could provide a more comprehensive service
to the people in the Puli region. Furthermore, all construction projects completed
during his terms survived the September 21st earthquake in 1999. The sixth superintendent
was Mr. Ji-yuan Xiao, who served for 6 years. During his term, PVH experienced some
major natural disasters such as the September 21st earthquake in 1999, the outbreak
of SARS, the flood caused by Typhoon Mindulle and the collapse of Ling Yan Mountain
Temple. However, under Mr. Zhao’s orderly command, PVH was soon back on its feet.
He also recruited more distinguished professional and medical talents into our team.
He also finished the construction of the corridor between the second floor of General
Building and the library, established the ward for acute psychiatric patients, the
ward for chronic psychiatric patients, the day-care ward and the respiratory ward.
With his vision, we have seen great improvement in the performance and quality of
service of this hospital and it has been deemed as a guardian angel for the health
of veterans and civilians in the great Puli region.
William L. Ho
Superintendent
July 21th , 2005
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