Gillian Tee, CEO and co-founder of Homage, speaks about helping healthcare
The United Nations predicted that by 2050, Singapore’s aged will make up almost half its total population; in fact, by 2030, Singapore will be a “super-aged” country, where one in five people are aged 65 or older. This means the need for robust, affordable and holistic senior care will grow in tandem. Enter Homage, a technology-driven platform where caregivers and health professionals are matched to those who need healthcare most, when they need it most. Options speaks to Gillian Tee, CEO and co-founder of Homage.
Gillian Tee, co-founder and CEO of on-demand healthcare services provider Homage, was, by her own confession, a “wild child”. Running with abandon through a field of overgrown grass near her childhood home at Old Bedok Road, she had ignored the remonstrations of her nanny — an elderly Malaysian lady who took care of her during her formative years.
No surprises about what happened next: Tee tripped and fell, practically ripping the skin off her left knee, which till this day bears a nasty scar. Her alarmed nanny immediately came to her aid.
Yet despite the blood and pain, Tee remembers that day with great fondness. “I was such a wild child, I’m just getting into all sorts of trouble. You know, running outside and falling down for no rhyme nor reason, and she would always be the one who would clean up after my mess!” She laughs. “This episode from my childhood has always stuck with me because I remember her being so loving and patient.”
The reason this memory stands out, says Tee, is because of the care which her nanny had always shown her. “Her love was always unconditional, and the bond we had was beyond nanny and child,” adds Tee.
It is with this unconditional love and care in mind that Tee set up Homage, a Singapore-born healthcare service start-up which utilises technology to match those in need with the best possible caregiver or health provider. As the name suggests, it is a tribute to her nanny, who passed away from bone and breast cancer when Tee was 12 years old. Homage Care service is the start-up’s core nursing, caregiving and rehabilitation service.
Aside from its focus on caregiving for the elderly, Homage also offers on-demand healthcare services — such as mobile medicine, teleconsultation, and medication delivery — through a combination of certified care professionals and proprietary technology. Homage curates and screens all of its pool of almost 2,000 caregivers, nurses and healthcare professionals.
And, with reports that Singapore will be a “super-aged” country by 2030, where one in five people are aged 65 or older, this has increasingly spurred concern for the rising needs of long-term care. Not only that, an