Doctor left promising career track to plug healthcare gap

For about a decade, Dr Chen Shiling, 44, felt like a lone voice in the wilderness.

- Theresa Tan Senior Social Affairs Correspondent

Dr Chen Shiling quit her job at a public hospital and founded Happee Hearts Movement, a charity that runs IDHealth, Singapore's first community-based dedicated healthcare service for people with intellectual disabilities. Today, Happee Hearts has almost 30 employees, including nurses and social workers, and has expanded to treating the caregivers of the patients. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

(GIN TAY)

Seeing a gap in how Singapore’s healthcare system diagnosed and treated people with intellectual disabilities (ID), she believed they needed care tailored to their multiple and complex needs.

But for years, she could not find the resources or support to bring her idea to life.

In 2013, she made a radical decision.

She quit her job at a public hospital, walking away from a promising training pathway towards becoming a nephrologist - a doctor specialising in treating kidney conditions to figure out how to close that gap.

She took on part-time locum work to support her family and make ends meet, all while trying to rally interest in the dedicated healthcare service for patients with ID she envisioned.

“I had no money, no connections and no support,” she said. “All I had was an increasingly strong conviction that I had to persevere. What kept me going was seeing my patients and their families. The need is huge, and I can see the impact I can make.”

That persistence culminated in the founding of the Happee Hearts Movement, which was registered as a charity in 2022.

The charity runs IDHealth, Singapore’s first community-based dedicated healthcare service for people with ID. The clinic, now located in Upper Thomson Road, has grown steadily.

Today, Happee Hearts has almost 30 employees, including nurses and social workers.