Wu Shu-chen, wife of former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, arrived at a prison hospital in the central city of Taichung Friday morning where a medical team will assess whether she can serve her 17.5-year corruption sentence.

A team of 18 doctors will decide whether Wu is fit to serve the sentence within a week, or three hours after she arrived at the jail at the soonest.

Wu, 57, who is paralyzed and wheelchair bound, is being assessed in Pei Teh Hospital affiliated with Taichung Prison.

Reporters closely followed Wu as she was taken from Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office in southern Taiwan, where Wu had reported to, to the prison hospital.

Both Wu and Chen were sentenced to a combined jail term of 17.5 years last year for embezzlement, bribe taking and money laundering during Chen' s tenure as Taiwan leader from 2000 to 2008. Wu was also fined 154 million New Taiwan dollars (5 million U.S. dollars) for her crimes.

Chen began serving his sentence at a prison in Taoyuan County on Dec. 2. It is the first time that a former leader of Taiwan has been jailed.