The department provides treatment of all infectious diseases in the in-patient and out-patient department along with all consultations regarding infectious diseases and antibiotic usage. The department, with its 42 hospital beds, attends primarily to all microbiologic diseases, atypical infectious diseases, and fever of unknown origin. Another 42 hospital beds are allocated in the standard isolation ward admitting patients with pulmonary TB, AIDS and other rare infectious diseases that require isolation. Other than the above services, an infectious diseases specialist heads the hospital’s infection control department, which supervises and is responsible for prevention and monitoring of nosocomial infection. The infectious diseases section, along with the department of microbiology, have been contracted by the department of health to act as a regional reference laboratory for mycobacterial and rickettsial diseases local hospitals in Southern Taiwan. In this manner, the goal of serving the patients as well as learning by teaching is attained.

    The advancement of a certain section relies on the quality of its personnel and on their contribution to the section’s training program, which will then draw more outstanding people to join the team.

In the recent years, the department has become one of the best subspecialty department as far as its teaching program is concerned. In the past decade, the department has attracted over 10 physicians to be on their staff, many of them were the most outstanding residents. Thus the transformation into a versatile, well-rounded department is seen and the seed of future developments of the department has been sown. Since 1994, the hospital was accredited as a training hospital for the society of infectious diseases and the training center for the 3^rd combined infectious diseases clinical and research-training program sponsored by the central research institute in cooperation with the department of health. At the same time, the department of infectious diseases is also responsible for the teaching program of National Yang Ming University infectious disease study and of National Chung San University biologic research studies. 　

    Research work is one of the department’s pride and is also vital in the academic league. During the commencement of Kaoshiung Veterans General Hospital, the department, through previous hospital director Cheng, has contended for the budget for the treatment of AIDS and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in southern Taiwan. This not only enabled acquisition of many research equipments, but also established the section’s reputation in the research of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. In the past years, amongst the department ‘s research work, the role of the laboratory has been increasingly significant. The laboratory itself has set its own standards and garnered high points during the first accreditation of laboratories. It is now a level P3 laboratory and has set the foundation for the advancement of research work.

    As outstanding colleagues have joined our team, the ability to further develop each person’s talents and interests has been an important theme. Under the leadership of Dr. Yung-ching Liu as chief of the section, allowing different expertise to complement each other and takes the department to a new level. Among these, Dr Liu’s is an expert on viruses and tuberculosis; Dr. Yao-Shen Chen specializes in drug-resistance and has the responsibility of the hospital’s infection control; Dr. Shue-Ren Wann’s primary interest is in the area of critical care in infectious diseases, fungal infections and infections in immunocompromised patients, as well as being the chief of section of internal medicine in the hospital’s emergency medicine department; Dr. Susan Shin-Jung Lee’s main interest is in tuberculosis and atypical infections; and Dr. Hung-chin Tsai is now a student for PhD studies in the Kaoshiung Medical University and specializes in research on parasites; and Dr. Chih-Hsiang Kao is also a specialist of emergency medicine and is at the forefront of clinical work and research of infectious diseases. Such an assembly of expertise has never been seen in the past, enabling the department to be a forerunner in research both in and out of the country. We believe that the department’s pace-setting consultant will create great names in the future in the world of infectious diseases. The department is an important referral center of critical infectious diseases. Another proof of its medical superiority is being the first institution to have its own isolation ward in southern Taiwan and has also served the Kaoshiung area with AIDS screening and reporting initial cases of infectious diseases not previously known to exist in Taiwan in the past. When SARS devastated Taiwan, Kaoshiung Veterans General Hospital was the only medical center in Southern Taiwan left undemolished, enabling the epidemic to be gradually controlled and earning the trust and recognition of the common people. This is the fruit of years of hard work. With hopes that through the cooperation of high standard laboratories and an excellent staff, the department could be the center for the country’s infectious and tropical disease research, and continue to care for people with infectious diseases providing the best quality of medical services.