NTU Hospital Criticized over Faculty Pay Cut|台大傳砍薪 臨床.兼任教職醫受影響

National Taiwan University Hospital is allegedly cutting the wages of doctors. The Taipei Doctors Union points out that NTU Hospital is cutting the wages of clinical and part-time faculty doctors by NT$ 30,000 to NT$ 450,000 a year and will affect close to 280 doctors. However, the hospital has been profiting in billions for years, leading the the union to suspect that the hospital is trying to secretly control its clinical operations by changing its wage structure.


According to reports, leading hospital National Taiwan University Hospital is slashing the wages of part-time faculty physicians. One doctor says NTU Hospital's wages are lower than the industry average to start with and the change will detrimentally affect patient safety.

When hospital officials are making decisions about bonus adjustments, are they really thinking about patient safety? Or are they thinking only about profits?

The Taipei Doctors Union says the unilateral decision will drive talented doctors away and the hospital has no reason to do this when it has been profiting billions per year for years. According to NTU Hospital meeting minutes, the cost-cutting plan will save the hospital NT$ 29 million on bonuses a year by reducing payments to 216 clinical faculty doctors by NT$ 30,000 to NT$ 310,000 per person per year and 58 part-time faculty doctors by NT$ 70,000 to NT$ 450,000 per person per year.

The wages and even bonuses of our part-time faculty and clinical faculty doctors are higher than our full-time faculty doctors. The purpose of the correction is equalizing payment for similar work.

The hospital says the base salaries of doctors will not be affected and it is cutting the bonuses of clinical and part-time faculty out of fairness. The union says the hospital needs to hold an information session for doctors and run cost numbers again if it wants to retain doctors who are passionate about teaching.