When I became the cath lab director at the former St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, I asked my assistant to include my cell phone number on my name card. She hesitated and asked more than once if I was sure -that perhaps it wasn’t prudent to give patients and referring physicians direct access at all times. Even my wife was skeptical. But I was convinced that more good would come from this simple gesture than inconvenience from untimely calls.

At the same time, I was also participating in a Korean-language radio call-in program, where listeners could ask me medical questions. I asked the host to announce my cell number at the beginning and end of every broadcast. She was astonished that I would be so open with my contact information.

Over the years, many people did call me -always during the day, always apologetic for “bothering” me, and always grateful. I would reassure them that it was never a burden and that I was glad to help. Only once did I get a call in the middle of the night. It was from a Korean patient who had previously undergone bypass surgery for long-standing diabetes. Her voice alone told me she was in heart failure. I urged her to call 911 and promised to meet her in the emergency room. She was found to have a severe blockage in one of her bypass grafts, but fortunately no heart attack. I was able to perform an urgent stent procedure. Many years later, her brother, having written down my phone number from one of the Korean call-in programs, called to let me know she had passed away from cancer, but he thanked me again for being there that night.