Dr Libby Lee hopes to build a warm corporate culture
Envisioning the HA as a thriving ecosystem, Chief Executive Dr Libby Lee sees the HA not merely as an institution, but as a lush, flourishing garden—teeming with potential to yield abundant harvests. Within this verdant space, she aspires to cultivate a culture of warmth where colleagues nurture patients and each other with equal devotion. Echoing Aristotle’s timeless wisdom, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Dr Lee believes true excellence blossoms from habits tenderly grown through daily tending. To nurture this garden, she will deepen roots of communication with staff and foster shared vision for the HA’s growth.
“It feels as though my heart never departed!” Dr Lee reflects, her smile luminous. Her 26-year odyssey with the HA began as an intern, interrupted only by her service as Under Secretary for Health three years prior. “Stepping into that role was like discovering a new vantage point,” she reveals. “It expanded my horizon. Where I once saw the HA purely as a guardian of safe, quality care, I now perceive its profound capacity to heal far beyond medicine.”
Nurturing collective wisdom
Dr Lee’s voice softens as she journeys back to her clinical dawn: “As a medical student, I ushered new life into the world. Years later, the mother still shared her child’s milestones—a radiant reminder that hospitals are not just places of parting, but sanctuaries where joy takes its first breath.” In another chapter at Caritas Medical Centre’s geriatric ward, she crossed paths with Ah Sai, an 80-year-old soul who spoke no Cantonese. “A thoughtful nurse captured our moment and gifted Ah Sai the photograph. It became her compass during admissions—a fragile beacon guiding her search for my face. Though her light faded too soon, she taught me how deeply our simplest gestures etch themselves upon a patient’s heart. One life, touching another…… forever altering its course. This is the sacred privilege we carry.”
She dreams of the HA radiating as a sanctuary of compassion, its foundation anchored in humanity. “We must weave trust into our days, tend to one another with grace, and harmonise diverse voices. I know the crush of burdens and the chorus of needs can dim our kindness—yet we must guard this flame fiercely.” For Dr Lee, sustaining staff is sustaining patients. “Those on the frontline hold precious insights into elevating care. When their wisdom dances with leadership’s vision, Hong Kong’s healthcare will soar.”
Through the patient’s eyes: Streamlining care
With strategic clarity, Dr Lee will harmonise the HA’s head office and hospital clusters into a symphony of complementary roles. She envisions deeper roots with the Primary Healthcare Commission, ensuring the public system’s enduring strength. “Every step must honour the patient’s journey,” she affirms. “We’ll harness technology’s pulse to simplify pathways, amplify efficiency, and dissolve waiting times. Public funds are seeds we must sow wisely—reaching the most fragile among us. Their silent struggles whisper: How can we lift them?”The heart’s curriculum
Beyond hospital walls, Dr Lee finds poetry in her bond with ageing canine companions. Caring for three large dogs through muscle-wasting twilight years sculpted her soul: “Night after night, I cradled their weight to ease their rest. Their parting left an ache…… yet also peace, knowing their suffering ceased. This sacred vigil taught me that love, in medicine or life, demands we relinquish our assumptions. True care begins when we see through their eyes—discovering what heals, what comforts, what dignifies. This is the heartbeat our healthcare needs.”
Interview video