For ‘true heroes’: Chinese-American med student helps Idaho in the time of coronavirus
Lei Ye is just the kind of person you want in your community.
The first-year medical student at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine in Meridian helped organize a medical supply drive for St. Luke’s Hospital.
The effort collected 11,800 medical gloves, 100 full-body protection suits, 315 surgical masks, 125 N95 masks, 150 industrial N95 masks, 12 boxes of cleaning products and 100 $20 gift cards for front-line medical workers fighting the coronavirus outbreak.
His motivation to help has an incredible back story, which Ye shared with me in a phone interview on Monday.
Ye is a first-generation immigrant from China. He and his mother came to the United States in 2007 when Ye was just 14, and they settled in Rowland Heights, a small town in southern California.
Ye’s mother was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer called astrocytoma. He and his mother were on Medicaid at the time, and they couldn’t find a doctor willing to treat her, Ye said.
So Ye remembers riding his Walmart bicycle around town “and knocked on doors of every Chinese-speaking doctor and asked if they could help my mother. Basically, asking for a personal favor,” knowing Medicaid wouldn’t come close to paying the bills.
After several tries, one doctor, Dr. Pao-Min Lee D.O., agreed to help.
“This person is the inspiration of my life,” Ye said. “He inspired me for what I want to do with my life.”
Lee carefully monitored Ye’s mother with monthly check-ups, and made sure Ye’s mother received all the medications and MRIs required.
“Over the course of our association, I discovered Dr. Lee is a physician who speaks multiple languages and serves several underserved communities,” Ye said. “Now, almost eight years later, this doctor is still the man I aspire to be. The hand he extended to me on that cold winter day will always embody for me what a doctor has to offer the world.
“That was the moment I discovered the purpose of my life and what I wanted to do with my life,” Ye said. “Today, I am living that dream. I am the very definition of the American dream.”
Ye graduated from University of California-Davis, then chose the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. Ye had nine medical school invites but chose Idaho, he said, because he knew there was a need, as Idaho ranks 49th in physicians per capita and he wanted to specifically address the shortage here.
Ye has been attending ICOM since April. He is attending ICOM as part of the Health Professions Scholarship Program through the U.S. Army, where Ye has been commissioned as a second lieutenant. Upon graduation from medical school, he will be promoted to captain.
Ye, along with another medical student at ICOM, helped the Idaho Chinese Organization collect the supplies.
The Idaho Chinese Organization is a nonprofit organization created to promote Chinese culture and provide community services.
“I was so amazed by the Chinese community here, and how quickly and how strongly they responded when others were in need,” Ye said. “I want to be a voice for the Chinese-American community here, to support each other, contribute to our community and to provide for the needs of our front-line health care workers.”
Ye said the purpose of the donations was twofold. The first was simply to provide supplies to those who need them. The second was to “be a voice for our Chinese-American community,” Ye said.
“We felt this was an opportunity to do the right thing,” he said. “Not necessarily in a political way, but just to show that as Chinese-Americans, we can contribute ourselves to the community and to do the right thing at the right time.”
There has been a backlash against China and Asian-Americans in the United States, as the coronavirus is widely believed to have originated in China. Members of the local Chinese community networked and contacted connections to secure the donated items. One of the top priorities for the supplies was that they all be made in the United States, Ye said.
“I want to thank the leadership team at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine for supporting me throughout this operation,” Ye wrote in an email to me. “I want to thank St. Luke’s for making the donation process seamless. I want to thank Dr. (Yong) Gao (President of Idaho Chinese Organization) for her exceptional leadership. Most importantly, I want to thank our doctors, nurses, and all the health care professionals who are fighting COVID-19 at the frontline. You guys are the true heroes.”
