It's been a wonderful career for a long-time Ladner doctor who is retiring after more than four decades in family practice.
Dr. Ken Lai, who is hanging up his stethoscope today, says he feels fortunate to have worked in the community since the early 1970s.
"The good thing about working in this town is you know the people," Lai, 72, told the Optimist. "Your patients became your friends. For me, I've been treating four generations of residents."
Lai, who opened his practice in August of 1972 and has worked at the same location on 47A Avenue for the past quarter-century, has seen quite a few changes over that time.
Like many general practitioners, he used to deliver babies, now a specialty that most family doctors don't undertake.
He says it's special to have so many adult patients he saw as children, who now bring their own children to his office. Many have moved elsewhere but still come to Ladner Village to see him.
A highly respected physician in the area, Lai hasn't been afraid to speak his mind on issues he believes impacts the quality of medical care for residents, including voicing his displeasure a couple of years ago at Fraser Health when it came to the length of time his patients had to wait for tests results from Delta Hospital.
Lai, however, is also a big supporter of the hospital, recalling how difficult it was for the community to get one built and how the facility continues to face controversy despite strong resident support.
He was acknowledged at a recent Friends of Delta
Hospital town hall meeting, where several pointed out his support and how his upcoming retirement adds further challenges for locals that can't find a family physician.
It was noted at that meeting that more family doctors would be encouraged to set up shop here if Delta Hospital had fully functioning services, something to which Lai says he wholeheartedly agrees.
"The young doctors, they train to work in hospitals as well. They feel they need support and if you had good service in Delta Hospital, then they would not feel lost. You need a hospital to attract a GP, there's no
doubt about it," he says.
Lai can remember life before the hospital was around.
"The first few years, there was no hospital support.
You were it. You looked after all the emergencies. You made house calls and saw people at three o'clock in the morning because they had an
emergency. So when the hospital opened, I didn't have to make house calls any more in the nighttime."
Dr. Sandy Chaung is taking over his patient files.
