Frontline fighter earns respect for hospital mission

When Yeh made the decision to devote himself to the battle against SARS, his family and his colleagues did not learn about it until later.

Yeh's wife Chang Mei (張媚), an associate professor at National Taiwan University School of Nursing, said she was away from home when her husband went into the hospital.

"He did not tell me about it beforehand," Chang said. But despite being concerned for her husband's health, she still extend her full support to his decision and said the whole family understood.

"This is something that is entirely correct, to assist people in the hospital. After all, my husband, with his experiences as a former director of the Bureau of Health, is the one most familiar with the operations of municipal hospitals," she said.

Yeh usually splits his time between Hualian and Taipei. He is only in Hualian when he has classes.

"Yeh is the pride of Tzu-chi and a role model for the public health field, " said Hsiao Cheng-kuang (蕭正光), dean of Yeh's department

"He has the full support of our department, and all the teaching staff is willing to share his duties here during his leave," Hsiao said.

According to Hsiao, Yeh has always been on cordial terms with other professors and lecturers, and the students like him too.

Tzu-chi gave its full support to Yeh's decision by taking care of some personal matters, including feeding his mice.

Yeh left two mice at his place and forgot about them while going into Hoping Hospital. He remembered about them only three or four days later.

Yeh called the department and they told him that there was nothing to worry about because they had been feeding the mice since the day he had left.

Chang Pei-ching (張佩菁), an teaching assistant at Yeh's department, said, "Professor Yeh's got a lovely and lively personality. He is a serious and responsible teacher, and close to the students. He is well-liked by the students."