Langley Memorial Hospital is celebrating 75 years of service in this community. In a series of stories over the coming months, the Langley Advance Times, in conjunction with the hospital foundation, takes a look at the past, present, and future of health care in Langley from a few different perspectives.
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Dr. Elaine Mah planned her own retirement party.
“How else are you going to make sure it goes the way you want it?,” Dr. Mah laughed.
For Mah, it was a splendid opportunity to make the event into a fundraiser for the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation, one that collected $5,000 in donations.
“Retirement is overrated,” said Mah, who was in the process of winding down her practice in June.
READ ALSO: Retired doctors and nurses help preserve medical history in Langley
For Mah, the route to becoming an obstetrician/gynecologist at Langley Memorial Hospital was not a straight line. It was filled with interesting detours, and logical next steps, all of them science-based.
“Life is not a straight path, It zig-zags,” is how she summed it up.
She grew up in the Vancouver’s West End, in the shadow of St. Paul’s Hospital, a science-loving oldest child in a large family.
“I think I took every single science course in my high school – except computers.”
Girls and science did not mix much back then. Mah remembers being one of just two girls in a physics class of 30.
She went to UBC where she studied chemistry and biochemistry.
“I inhaled it,” she described. “It was like breathing.”
She went on to study pathology, but decided she wasn’t suited for it.
“I just don’t have that level, shall we say, of creativity,” Mah observed, an insight that led to her next, logical step.
“You have to think about applied science, which is medicine,” which, it turned out, was a good fit.
“I discovered I didn’t mind talking to people,” she recalled.
And she didn’t get rattled by the intensity an obstetrician/gynecologist can experience – as she put it, “women who are screaming in pain, and delivering, didn’t bother me.”
Being present for the miracle of life is something she described as an “exuberant, uplifting experience.”
Going to Langley Memorial Hospital was another logical decision for the young doctor.
“I was actually looking for a position at a community hospital.”
After looking at several Lower Mainland hospitals, she determined the people she would be working with at LMH were “fabulous.”
“I felt welcomed.”
When Mah talks about the need to prevent burnout and stay balanced in the profession, the question comes up: how does she manage it?
“I play iPad games and watch a lot of food network,” she replied – and it also helps having a support network she can reach out to helps.
“I just phone up people and talk to them.”
As well, a Fraser Health Authority profile revealed her to be a science fiction fan who attends conventions and volunteers as events doctor.
READ ALSO: Odds are against LMH having first baby of the new year
Looking back, Mah prefers to remember the positive moments in her career – like the grateful parents and the pleasant surprise of getting cards years later from kids she delivered.
“You want to think of the cases that give you good vibes.”
Her semi-retirement plans include a vacation with family.
“I promised my nieces and nephews that I would take them on a Disney cruise.”
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Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation fundraises throughout the year to support health-care workers and allow them to keep providing life-saving care. To this end, the foundation is preparing for its annual hospital gala. This year’s event, dubbed Hot Havana Nights, is being held Oct. 21 at the Coast Hotel & Convention Centre. It’s the 32nd year. Money raised will support the urgent need to expand cardiac care at the Langley Hospital. For info: https://lmhfoundation.com/events/gala
• And, for more LMH history check out this special publication.
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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