The Taoyuan mayoral race has heated up over the stalled construction of a public hospital — bad news for Taoyuan residents waiting on local medical resources.

• Democratic Progressive Party candidate Huang Shih-chieh criticised Mayor Chang San-cheng for admitting that the hospital's progress is unclear while shifting responsibility onto the previous city administration.
• A BOT project in partnership with National Tsing Hua University fell through, and the re-tendering process has repeatedly drawn no bidders, with the city government offering no account of what it did in the interim.
• A cooperation plan with National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University is stuck under review at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, with Chang San-cheng saying it will take residents rallying together in support.
• Huang Shih-chieh pointed out that the city government has described helping to secure the land as "donating land," which amounts to admitting it has done nothing at all.
• The budget must be raised by the city government itself, which risks squeezing out other construction projects; National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch and National Cheng Kung University's Shalun Hospital show that only medical-centre-grade facilities can secure central government resources.

Outlook: Progress on the hospital's construction will be a central line of attack and defence in the 28 November Taoyuan mayoral election.