phoenix rising / fee-niks/ / rahy-zing/

No medical and business eexperience? No problem for this never-say-die businesswoman.

LISA GWEE CEO, G& L SURGICAL CLINIC

With a radiant smile and a joyous sparkle dancing in her eyes, Lisa Gwee is effortlessly gorgeous in her embellished mauve lace sari – and a resplendent sight at her youngest daughter’s 100th day celebration held at The St. Regis Singapore. Anybody watching Gwee charming her guests on that October day in 2019 would have thought her life a bed of roses.

In 2016, she set up G&L Surgical Clinic with husband Dr Ganesh Ramalingam, a prominent surgeon who developed the Weight Management Clinic, which includes Bariatric Surgery, in Alexandra and Khoo Teck Puat Hospitals, and is a founding committee member of the Obesity and Metabolic Surgical Society of Singapore.

Both with a passion for serving society, their goal was to make theirs a private practice with a difference: “We wanted to have the ability to help those with financial issues by giving them preferential rates. This is something we could not do in a group practice. We also wanted to have our own nurses, who’d be as committed to our cause as we are, and who’d willingly offer help around the clock. This was not possible when we hired nurses in a cost-sharing scheme with other clinics,” explains Gwee.

Previously a sales director of an IT solutions company and without any medical background, Gwee had to spend a year deep-diving into subjects spanning laparoscopy to colonoscopy, just so she thoroughly understood her clinic’s services.

Not being from the medical service industry did have one advantage as it allowed her to introduce a new way of doing things, such as working with a service team of personnel who’d worked in the hospitality industry.

“There is a lot of stigma around seeing a doctor that dissuades people from getting preventive treatment. I wanted to build a warm, welcoming place that isn’t intimidating. To do that, I needed to work with a team with a natural aptitude for connecting and communicating in a personable manner.” Her unorthodox approach – combined with her husband’s expertise – put G&L Clinic on the trajectory of success.

But that all screeched to a halt when the clinic suffered a blow a few years ago. It was in this critical time that Gwee showed her true mettle. The daughter of an entrepreneur had seen her father weather ups and downs, and steeled herself to be a pillar of strength for her husband and the company, pulling every one through the rut with her grit and wisdom: “This is life. Nothing is smooth-sailing for everybody. You just have to believe that there is a bigger plan. You must always have hope. You have to keep going.”

And she kept going by taking this setback as an opportunity to rebuild the clinic into something better than before – and doing the heaviest lifting while carrying her second child. Those in the industry saw clinic’s efforts, and patients felt everyone’s sincerity.

Slowly but surely, G&L Clinic returned to its place at the top.

Yet Gwee’s work is not done, and she tirelessly works the ground, sharing about the clinic’s services with corporate partners and general practitioners alike. “I am still fighting to get our company back on track each day. I never stop,” she says resolutely. And this is how, when a phoenix finally rises from the ashes, it soars.

“This is life. Nothing is smooth-sailing for everybody. You just have to believe that there is a bigger plan. You must always keep going.”