Dr. Walton Li Wai Tat: brand management of HKSH

Expert introduction

Dr. Walton Li Wai Tat, Chairman, Board of Directors, Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital Limited.

Dr. Li graduated from the Medical School of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in 1974 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He was specially trained in Ophthalmology at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Los Angeles from 1975–1978. He completed his fellowship in Corneal & External Ocular Disease at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA, School of Medicine in 1979. He became a Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology in 1979.

In 1980, Dr. Li established and has since been Head of the Department of Ophthalmology in Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital; in the same year he was appointed Deputy Medical Superintendent of the Hospital. In 2005, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hospital and was concurrently appointed its Medical Superintendent. At the same time he was elected Chairman of the Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation.

In 1993 Dr. Li became Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (Ophthalmology). In 1997, he was appointed Honorary Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). In July 2007, he was appointed Honorary Professor in the Eye Institute (now Department of Ophthalmology) of HKU, and at the invitation of the Vice-chancellor became Honorary University Fellow of HKU. In 2007 he was admitted FRCP Glasgow. In 2008, Dr. Li was admitted to Honorary University Fellowship of the Open University of Hong Kong. In 2009, Dr. Li was appointed Honorary Professor, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU. In 2014, HKU conferred upon Dr. Li the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa. The title of Honorary Fellow was conferred on Dr. Li by The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2015. Dr. Li was appointed a member of the Court of the University of Hong Kong in 2015. In 2017, Dr. Li was appointed a Member of The Second Board of Directors of The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.

Editor’s note

I was honored to meet Dr. Li during the 2017 International Green Healthcare Forum in Shenzhen, China. During the conference, Dr. Walton Li Wai Tat impressed the attendees with his thoughtful presentation on Brand Management. Taking this opportunity, I invited him for an interview and asked him to share his expert opinions on the management of brand culture (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Photo with Dr. Li.

Interview topics

Q1. Would you like to talk about the current status of Health Care in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong healthcare system divides into public sector and private sector. The private sector offers more options in doctors and treatments to those who can afford private healthcare services. The public sector, subsidised by the Hong Kong Government, provides a comprehensive range of quality services at a very low level of user charges. However, with an aging population, the demand is growing and the public sector, being overloaded, faces a number of growing problems, including overcrowding, long waiting times, and a lack of patient facilities. To address problems within the public sector, part of the healthcare reform should be to see if we can encourage more people to buy insurance. Therefore, people can make use of the insurance coverage and make use of the private facilities. Private sector helps lessen the load of the public sector and the two sectors complement each other.

Q2. As an eye expert, what do you think is your most important achievement?

We introduced Hong Kong’s first LASIK. Our Ophthalmology Department has been continuously expanding its spectrum of services since its establishment in 1980. Not only do we increase the number of doctors but also the types of services we cover. We recruit ophthalmologists from multi-subspecialties with different types of expertise and form an excellent medical team with more than 60 nurses, optometrists and ophthalmic technicians. We also actively introduce state-of-the-art technologies and advanced equipment. It provides comprehensive and effective treatments and surgical services for various eye diseases.

Q3. Since the establishment of Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital or HKSH in 1922, are there any important changes of the brand management of your hospital?

With a history of 95 years, our hospital has become one of the leading private hospitals in Hong Kong and a trusted brand among peers and members of the public, known for its high quality of patient care based on advanced knowledge, expertise and technology. Going through ups and downs, and making change and adaptations, we are committed to ensuring clinical and health care excellence. As we evolve, we continue to improve ourselves with improved peer standard, enhanced nursing services and support, updated equipment and facilities so as to meet the private patients’ expectation for the best care. At the hospital, clinical expertise and service quality are assured by a professional team of doctors, nurses and allied health personnel who are committed to the pursuit of “Quality in Service Excellence in Care”.

Let’s enjoy the video (Figure 2)!

Figure 2 Professor Walton Li Wai Tat: Brand Management of HKSH (1). Available online: http://www.asvide.com/articles/1869

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Hospital Management and Health Policy for the series “Meet the Professor”. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflicts of Interest: The author has completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jhmhp.2017.11.06). The series “Meet the professor” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. Julia Wang reports that she is a full-time employee of AME publishing company (publisher of the journal). The author has no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The author is accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

References

1. Wang J. Professor Walton Li Wai Tat: Brand Management of HKSH. Asvide 2017;4:550. Available online: http://www.asvide.com/articles/1869

(Science Editor: Julia Wang, AME Publishing Company, jhmhp@amegroups.com)