My first Magazine St Joseph's Home_40th Anniversary magazine.compres | Page 23

When is a doctor really a doctor?
“When you have used your
training to give back to the
community” Dr Lee muses.
He should know. After all, the
family physician has been giving
back to St Joseph’s Home since
it started operating in 1978 in Gek
Poh, Boon Lay.
“At that time, I had just
graduated and was very
ambitious. My own GP clinic
was barely up and running and I
wanted to do more. So I enquired
if St Joseph’s Home needed help.
It was just opposite my clinic.
They said no. Later, one of the
nuns heard about my enquiry and
said they could use some help.
I told them ‘you can contact me
anytime, even after office hours’.”
Dr Lee Chang Long, who’s
now in his 70s, ended up
visiting the home every week,
seeing about 10 residents each
time, “for acute episodes like
fever and chronic diseases like
diabetes, hypertension and high
cholesterol” he said. Almost all
the residents then were mobile
and in relatively good health
compared with the current
cohort who are mostly bed- or
wheelchair-bound. In between
his visits, the home would also
send residents to his clinic.
CHAMPION IMPACT INVESTOR
DR LEE
CHANG
LONG
St Joseph’s Home | 21