Entertainer donates 330 oxygen-supplying machines to Taiwan hospitals

藝人向台灣醫院捐贈330台氧氣機

High-flow nasal cannulas can reduce severely ill COVID patients’ chances of being intubated, increase their survival rate


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese entertainer Jia Yong-jie (賈永婕) was able to raise enough money to purchase 330 high-flow nasal cannula machines (HFNC) within just a couple of days, donating the oxygen-supplying apparatuses to hospitals that urgently need them, CNA reported.

Jia posted on Facebook Sunday (June 13) about the origin of her HFNC machine drive and the support she had gotten. She said she had received a message from a relative of the nursing director at a southern Taiwan hospital stating that every hospital in the country was in desperate need of HFNC machines, which cost NT$270,000 (US$9,310) a unit.

The message also stated that public hospitals are being bogged down by a tendering process to obtain them.

Unlike regular ventilators, an HFNC machine allows patients suffering from pneumonia not only to lie face down but also eat. According to Chen Chih-ching (陳志金), a doctor at Chi Mei Medical Center’s Department of Intensive Care Medicine, the device can also reduce the chances of intubation for severely ill patients and increase their survival rate.

After calling friends at National Taiwan University Hospital, Jia confirmed NTU Hospital and other public hospitals desperately needed them. She said her heart was broken after learning of the situation.

She immediately sprang into action and called friends in the business community to ask for their support for her HFNC drive. Jia’s husband took the lead and donated 15 HFNC machines.

Jia said she had been moved to tears because each of her friends wanted to contribute. Thanking them, she said, “All my friends support the cause, and everybody loves Taiwan so much!”

The entertainer soon raised enough money to purchase 330 of the machines. Delivery to frontline medical staff in hospitals across the country began on Saturday, per CNA.