PATIENT first in business

PETER LEE MAY BE A DOCTOR TURNED BUSINESSMAN, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE SERVICES CHC HEALTHCARE PROVIDES, THE PATIENT ALWAYS COMES FIRST.

- Wendy Kay

Becoming a doctor was a deeply personal ambition for Peter Lee; one he’d harboured since elementary school. “My grandfather had lung cancer and I saw how much pain he was in when I visited him in hospital,” he remembers. “I told him I wanted to become a doctor to relieve the pain and discomfort of patients. Even though I was just a kid talking, it really had an impact on me, and I went on to study at med school.”

Today, as Vice President of CHC Healthcare in Taiwan, Peter’s career path has taken a different turn, but his determination to help people with cancer hasn’t. It’s a commitment he shares with his father, Pei-Lin Lee, who founded the company in 1977.

CHC sells, maintains and leases equipment for radiation oncology, neuroscience, medical imaging, surgical procedures and ophthalmology. From becoming the first to lease the equipment needed for radiation oncology treatment therapy to a Taiwanese hospital, CHC now operates the Yee Zen General Hospital, multiple clinics and 35 cancer centres with operations in China, Indonesia and the UK. In 2017, the company joined with Taipei Medical University and Hospital to introduce proton therapy, the most advanced form of radiation therapy using high-energy proton beams to irradiate tumours.

“Actually, both my grandfathers died from cancer,” Peter reflects. “My father was working as a radiology technician in his 20s, taking care of his four younger siblings and travelling far after his shifts to visit his father in hospital. One day, he was so tired that he hit someone with his bike, so he understands very well the difficulties and the vulnerability of being a family member of a cancer patient.

“He decided to establish his own company and focus on introducing state-of-the-art equipment and pioneering cancer treatments to Taiwan and those in need. CHC has been focusing on the area of oncology ever since.”