I had the unfortunate cause to visit the Eye Centre and Surgery in the Gleneagles Medical Centre in Singapore several weeks ago.

I turned up on an extremely busy Friday afternoon. The small waiting area was packed. The small staff was clearly fully occupied. Patients were being moved between the different treatment rooms and diagnostic stations. Staff were calling out to each other. Patients were milling around. In addition to the usual appointments, there were more walk-ins than usual (as I found out later).

The interesting thing was, it was probably the best hospital/medical experience I had ever had.

The atmosphere was warm and friendly. Despite the busy-ness and overcrowding, the place felt GOOD. I cannot really put a finger on why. The décor was non-descript. The furniture was what you would find in any hospital or clinic (in the Western world). The lighting was the usual blur-green fluorescent glare.

The place really hummed with attentiveness and care. There was a real family atmosphere. The staff and doctors were calm and efficient. No one was in any fluster. Amidst all this activity, people were bringing in bunches of flowers for various staff members. Wow.

Despite the patient load, everyone got seen to. Everyone got due attention and care. The doctors on duty seem to explain things carefully and patiently to everyone. Somehow, they managed to give time to everyone even though time was obviously limited.

This was not a once-in-a-blue-moon magical alignment of the planets event either. In several subsequent visits, the atmosphere and feel are consistent with that first visit.

If they could bottle and sell this, they’d make a mint.