Nearly fifty hospital executives from Malaysia and Vietnam visited Taipei Veterans General Hospital on December 7, 2023. They were impressed with the Heavy Ion Cancer Therapy Center, Smart Healthcare and cancer care services, and expressed a desire to establish a formal referral pathway to facilitate arrangements for patients needing advanced treatment at Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Vice Superintendent Wei-Ping Lee welcomed the distinguished guests from afar and highlighted the existing close cooperation between Taipei Veterans General Hospital and a number of medical institutions in Vietnam and Malaysia. These collaborations include patient referrals, medical staff exchanges and training programs, and both sides are willing to further deepen their cooperation.

The visitors were given a special tour of the Outpatient Chemotherapy and Smart Pharmacy departments to showcase the achievements of the implementation of Smart Healthcare. They then visited the Heavy Ion Cancer Therapy Center. As Malaysia and Vietnam do not currently have proton therapy treatment facilities, they greatly appreciated this opportunity and asked many questions. They also acknowledged the increasing burden on local hospitals due to the rising number of cancer patients, making it infeasible to establish a proton therapy center in the short term. Therefore, they expressed a proactive interest in referring patients to Taipei Veterans General Hospital for state-of-the-art treatment.