During the Lunar New Year’s nine-day holiday, hospital emergency rooms faced peak patient loads as clinics largely closed amid increased travel and family visits. To ease ER pressure, the Health Ministry (MOHW) set up 13 nationwide Urgent Care Centers (UCC) and encouraged hospitals and clinics to extend hours, bolstering medical resilience. 

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) visited Kaohsiung's Wen-Hsiung Hospital on Thursday to inspect UCC operations, review triage, capacity management, and preparations, and commend frontline staff. He noted that overall medical capacity remains under control, with ER visits down from last year, showing policy effectiveness. Cho thanked Wen-Hsiung Hospital, Kaohsiung’s sole UCC, for its team’s holiday sacrifices in protecting public health. 

MOHW minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) reported initial holiday ER visits at around 30,000 on the first day, down from 40,000 last year, with flu-like cases dropping 30-40%. He stressed sustained holiday services as key to easing large-hospital ER burdens amid an aging society.

Cho emphasized enhancing medical resilience and staff pay under President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) Healthy Taiwan vision, reserving resources for severe cases via tiered care.