National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan has signed a BOT hospital contract with privately owned Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU), with NTHU President W. John Kao and KMU Director Yi-chen Wang signing the contract.

KMU will invest more than NT$10 billion to build a large-scale smart hospital in the Taoyuan Aerotropolis. Construction on the first phase of the project, which will have a total of 515 beds, is expected to begin in 2024 and be completed by 2028.

The land for the NTHU Taoyuan Medical and Educational R&D Park, which was allocated by the Taoyuan City Government, covers an area of 7.2 hectares. Five hectares have been reserved for the medical park, which initially will contain 329 general beds and 186 special beds, resulting in a total of 515 beds for the first phase. In the future, the number of beds will gradually increase to 910, making it a teaching hospital at the medical center level.

The remaining 2.2 hectares have been designated for the educational R&D park. In the first phase, KMU will construct laboratories, classrooms, and dormitories for healthcare and medical students. In the second phase, NTHU will raise funds independently to develop a medical incubation centre and a research centre.

The NTHU Hospital will incorporate 39 medical sub-specialties, including internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, as well as other medical disciplines.