President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Thursday presided over the inauguration of a new emergency and critical care building at the Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, expressing hope it will help elevate medical standards and benefit both service members and civilians.

Located in Longtan District, Taoyuan, the hospital serves as a key regional facility. The new building adds 142 acute care beds and 81 specialized beds, bringing total capacity to 915 and significantly boosting treatment capability for critical and cancer care. 

Lai thanked the Defense Ministry and military medical authorities for completing the project on schedule, noting the hospital has now been upgraded to a candidate for Medical Center status. He stressed that “with greater capabilities comes greater responsibility.” 

The president outlined three expectations, starting with strengthening the role of military medicine in both routine care and wartime readiness, including the timely completion of blood supply infrastructure. Second, he urged continuous improvement in equipment and professional training. He said, “It’s not just the Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital – all military hospitals must upgrade our equipment, our instruments, and our professional medical service capabilities, and do so with a clear plan. Since we are hospitals under the Ministry of National Defense, we have national resources to support us. We must not set limits on ourselves; we should do what needs to be done, do it well, and do it better than others.”

Finally, Lai reiterated his Healthy Taiwan goal, aiming to reduce cancer and chronic disease mortality rates by one-third before 2030.