When Leslie Lu was approached to join EC Healthcare just over two years ago, he jumped at the opportunity to join such a unique organization.
“It is very purpose-driven. It’s basically about creating sustainable, attainable and affordable health care for the general public,” he tells The CEO Magazine.
As the CEO of Hong Kong’s largest non-hospital medical services provider, Lu and EC Healthcare’s mission is to provide an unrivaled, expansive network and ecosystem – a one-stop shop for health care.
From checkups and vaccinations to lab testing, imaging diagnostics and pain management, as well as aesthetic medical, beauty and veteran services, EC Healthcare draws on the expertise of 337 doctors and 56 veterinarians across 46 brands at 182 service points to offer exemplary care for patients and animals.
“It’s a big ambition,” Lu admits. “It’s a very unique strategy that is different from the rest of the market, and has not been done before.”
“It’s basically about creating sustainable, attainable and affordable health care for the general public.”
Stepping into the role of CEO at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Lu – who brought with him over 20 years’ experience in corporate operations, risk management and client relationship management at companies including Cathay Pacific – faced additional challenges. But ultimately, he saw them as more positive than negative over the long-term.
“The transition was actually very fruitful for me, because I think if I’d have joined after the pandemic, all of the strategic revelations or the chance to steer it in a certain direction would have been missed,” he reflects.
“It was a critical moment where we needed to look at a fundamental review of our strategy and business model. They’d been in startup mode, so I felt I could contribute to the next chapter of the journey, looking at how we leverage all of our assets that have been acquired into a single system.”
Staying Agile
The pandemic also heralded a new era for businesses across the globe, and arguably none were more affected than the healthcare industry.
“COVID-19 brought in a lot of structural change from a market perspective. It changed the economics and the margins, and it brought in consumer and behavioral changes,” Lu reveals.
“Across the business, the reliance on B2C has been weakened. But we’re also much larger than we were two years ago. We have close to 61,000 square meters of retail service area and employ about 2,600 staff from the front line to the back office across numerous disciplines.”
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At the same time, Lu adds, technology also evolved in leaps and bounds over this period, meaning innovation now has to be a number one priority for any company.
EC Healthcare has recently implemented an online 24/7 booking system whereby patients can instantly make appointments for the next day, even after hours when clinics are closed – something he says has been very important to the customer experience.
“My biggest learning is that with all these drivers of change, it’s vital to be agile in reassessing our strategy into a new way of execution while also staying true to our purpose,” Lu explains.
A Higher Purpose
While acquisitions comprise a major facet of the company’s ongoing strategy, arguably even more crucial is its dependence on high-quality suppliers. As well as insurance, telecom, property and pharmaceutical partners, other medical specialist systems and products, such as laser aesthetic skin care provider Solta Medical Hong Kong, are integral to ensuring EC Healthcare can offer its customers top-of-the-line solutions.
“We have some very long-term collaborations with our partners,” Lu says. “Investing in these relationships has been pivotal to the success of our foundations, scale and business as a whole.”
Over the past few years, EC Healthcare has continued looking at ways to expand its offerings and venture into new pillars and subsidiary services. This diversification meant that it was essential to keep not only the immediate team, but also the stakeholders and suppliers, consolidated and operating in the same way and under the same value system.
“Internally, as leaders, we must be very clear about our purpose, our vision in the market and demonstrate strong empathy,” Lu points out.
“We are a fragmented operation because the clinics are all different business models and face different challenges. So it’s about bringing the team back to our purpose and showing them we understand, because that’s the only way to build communication.”
“A great leader has conviction, a very clear vision and purpose, and a core set of transparent values.”
Hand-in-hand with effective communication, Lu enthuses, is transparency.
“People need to understand why you’re doing things, how you’re doing them and what the implications are,” he insists.
“Communication needs to be constructive, meaning that it creates a platform for discussions. And of course, we need to actively listen because different people bring in different expertise.”
Lu says it’s been imperative to engage management and guarantee that there is always consistency when they are dealing with their wider teams, displaying a fact-based, data-driven approach to create value and respect.
“That is fundamental alignment, because if they’re not interested in our mission, it doesn’t matter how we cooperate or communicate – we’ll never succeed,” he notes.
Reinforcing these philosophies from the top down is something Lu places great importance on, above all else believing that a leader must show respect and empathy to everyone.
“A great leader has conviction, a very clear vision and purpose, and a core set of transparent values,” he says. “It’s not just about reassuring employees, but also pushing them to grow.”
