An Introduction to Heng Chun Christian Hospital

　This is the story of our work and our mission here in the Hengchun Peninsula.

　We are thankful to God for giving us the courage to come here, in spite of all the difficulty and hardship, to serve at this remote area at the southern tip of Taiwan. In this area there are five villages and one town all surrounded by the mountains and the sea. This is a beautiful place. However, the medical services here have been inadequate, especially in the mountains where there are no medical facilities.

　In 1964 a group of missionaries from far-away Finland came to this remote area to preach the Gospel. They saw the destitute condition of medical care and on November 10 of 1968 established the Hengchun Christian Clinic to begin medical mission.

　After going through great difficulties despite much effort, in 1979, it became clear that the clinic was at the brink of closing down because of lack of doctors. Then CCMM (Chinese Christian Medical Mission) came to the rescue and accepted the great challenge of taking over the administration and mission of the clinic. Since then, the medical mission work and services have continued uninterrupted. A three-story building was built and the Hengchun Christian Clinic became Hengchun Christian Hospital.

　In December 1995, a new six-story building was opened to enable the hospital to meet the growing needs of the people and to give better quality services. The sudden increase in the number of beds and the number of coworkers made us work ever more diligently. However, the hospital must pay back NT$1,000,000 (US$30,000) per month to the bank for the loan it obtained to build the new building.

　Every day, from seven-thirty to 8 o'clock is morning worship time. All coworkers participate in various forms of worship and devotion. After the morning devotion, all departments begin the day’s work. The services we offer include surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology-obstetrics, ophthalmology, dentistry, physical therapy, X-ray, CT (or CAT scan), laboratory and laser.

　The hospital also sends out doctors and nurses into the nearby mountains to search for sick and needy old people and give them much needed medical care. This is an important part of the hospitals work. Our doctors all know that it is not enough just to sit and wait for the patients to come. We need to go to the remote mountain hamlets to search from door to door for voiceless hidden patients. This sets this hospital apart from other hospitals. The majority of our patients live scattered in the remote mountains within 50 km from the hospital. Many of them are handicapped old people who have difficulty moving about. And over half of them are old people over sixty years of age, belonging to the Paiwan aboriginal tribe.

　In these areas, there is serious migration of young people to the cities leaving behind the old tribal people to tend for themselves. Not only do they need to care for themselves, they often also need to care for their grand children whose parents have gone to the cities to work. When they become ill, there are no one to care for them and their grandchildren. Sometimes they even lack the basic means of survival. For nearly half a century, the medical workers from Heng Chung Christian Hospital have left their footprints all over the tribal villages deep in the mountains providing them with free medical care.

　More than half of the coworkers at the hospital are from the tribes of the aboriginal people of Taiwan. These descendants of the original Taiwan inhabitants are good natured, kind, and easy to get along with. In addition, 75% of the coworkers at the hospital are Christians. There is harmony among coworkers. They serve the patients with kindness and lively enthusiasm. All the workers together as a whole are like a family, serving each patient with joy and thanksgiving, as if serving their own relatives. We appreciate, value and cherish this opportunity, given us by God, to serve the people in this remote area.

　In larger cities people can easily get a good medical care, because there is no lack of various medical facilities. However, people living in Hengchun, whose lives are as precious, deserves the same right to be given the good medical care. We plead with you to work with us to help them.

Hengchun Christian Hospital
TEL:886-8-8880024 FAX:886-8-8880111
No. 21, Heng W. Rd., Hengchun Jen, Pingtung, Taiwan 946, R.O.C.
http://www.hcch.org.tw e-mail: hcch@hcch.org.tw  overseas donation