The Dialysis Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital serves local patients and foreign visitors alike.

When Prince Court Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, looked for a dialysis center to treat one of its patients planning a trip to Taiwan, it contacted Min-Sheng General hospital to make the arrangements. This episode underlines the plight of thousands of people with renal problems who require dialysis several times a week, whether they are at home or traveling abroad. People with such conditions should not be deterred from traveling; they just need more planning and attention.

The Dialysis Center at Min-Sheng Hospital is the perfect place for this type of travelers. The 56-bed center is equipped with the latest Fresenius machines and is staffed with four nephrologists, forty-two nurses and two technicians. The center which offers Conventional Hemodialysis, High efficiency Hemodialysis, High flux hemodialysis, and Peritoneal Dialysis is open six days a week (from Monday to Saturday) from 7:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night for the greatest convenience of the patients.

With a focus on quality care and safety, the center implements strict infection control procedures; hollow fibers membranes are single-use only, all the equipment goes through stringent daily monitoring and is maintained by a team of in-house experienced technicians. In 2009, Min-Sheng General Hospital’s Dialysis Center was surveyed by Joint Commission International (JCI), the international arm of Joint Commission the body that reviews all hospitals in the USA, and became the first hospital in the world to be awarded CCP (Clinical Care Program) Certification for its chronic kidney disease program.

Foreign visitors in need of dialysis treatment while staying in Taiwan are welcome to the center. Advance booking is required and treatment can be tailored to meet personal requirements. People interested in using the services of the Dialysis Center should contact the International Healthcare Department of Min-Sheng General Hospital that will make the necessary arrangements.

Min-Sheng General Hospital and Delaware American Life enter cooperation agreement.

DelAmLife is the latest international insurance company to choose Min-Sheng General Hospital as a preferred medical partner in Taiwan.

Delaware American Life Insurance Company (DelAmLife), an affiliate of ALICO, is the underwriter of the Atlas Expatriate Benefits plans in the United States. Atlas Expatriate Benefits plans were developed specifically to meet the medical needs of globally mobile employees and can be tailored to accommodate individual clients' requirements.

Thanks to the agreement signed between DelAm and Min-Sheng General Hospital, the hospital will charge DelAm directly for the medical costs incurred by Atlas Expatriate Benefit members in Taiwan, within the limits of their personal plan. Atlas Expatriate Benefit members in Taiwan include employees of multinational corporations, large hotel chains, legal firms, and foreign embassies.

More than a dozen International Health Insurance and assistance companies from America, Japan and Europe have signed cooperation agreements with Min-Sheng in order to facilitate the care and handling of their clients.

International specialists gather at Min-Sheng to discuss the use of bariatric surgery to treat Type II Diabetes Mellitus.

Min-Sheng General Hospital recently hosted the first Asian Diabetes Surgery Summit that looked at the therapeutic option that some weight loss surgical procedures offer to patients suffering from Type II Mellitus Diabetes. Surgeons and endocrinologists from across Asia and the United States gathered to share their experience, and discuss the latest developments in metabolic surgery.

Type II Diabetes Mellitus is a pandemic that affects almost 3% of the global population. It is estimated that by 2025 380 million people world wide will suffer from the disease, many of them in Asia. Type 2 diabetes is due primarily to lifestyle factors and genetics. A sedentary lifestyle, excessive weight and hypertension are often the trigger to developing the disease. Diabetes is difficult to cure and treatment currently focuses on containing and managing the disease. Life style modifications and strict compliance to diet and drug regimen are paramount in treating diabetes. However, current therapies are far from ideal and the condition of the patient often deteriorates and affects the quality of his or her life.

The first reports suggesting that bariatric surgery may be useful in the treatment of Type II diabetes Mellitus, even in non-morbidly obese patients, appeared in the medical literature 15 years ago. Studies have since shown that more than 80 % of diabetic patients undergoing a weight loss procedure like a gastric bypass, or gastric sleeve regain normal blood sugar control, and resolve their diabetes type II problem. This is especially true for younger patients and patients who have been suffering from diabetes for a shorter period of time. More recently, it has been discovered that bariatric surgery has specific metabolic effects and can improve diabetes even before a significant weight loss has been achieved. Gastric bypass patients routinely see their diabetes disappear within days or weeks after surgery.

Doctors are now starting to wonder if surgery is equally effective in less heavy patients. This is of foremost importance for Asians suffering from Type II diabetes because Asians typically have a higher body fat percentage than Caucasians, which explains why they often develop diabetes at a lower weight and BMI (Body Mass Index). The consensus among professionals is now that Bariatric surgery should be considered for the treatment of diabetes Type II in patients with a BMI of 35 or more, and that it may also be appropriate to treat patients who are mildly obese (BMI 30-35 kg/m2) and are inadequately controlled by lifestyle and medical therapy. The contention is whether the same results can be simulated in diabetics who are not obese, and studies are currently being conducted to evaluate the efficacy and availability of laparoscopic bariatric surgery for Type II Diabetes Mellitus patients with BMI of less than 30. Positive results could shift the paradigm in the treatment of Type II diabetes from managing the disease to actually curing it.