[Life Act 3 Companies] Hospital Companion 'Withmate'... "Service for Busy Caregivers"

Korea's First Hospital Companion Service 'Withmate'
Cancer Survivors Also Become 'Mates' Helping Hospital Visits
"We Want to Be a Company That Covers Everything from Well-being to Well-dying"

Jiseungbae, CEO of Withmate. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] "Before receiving long-term care grades, elderly people had no place to get help other than their families, so we thought of a 'hospital accompaniment service.'"

'Withmate,' located in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, is the first platform in Korea to provide hospital accompaniment services. Also called 'non-emergency medical accompaniment,' this service is designed for those who are not in emergency situations but need to visit medical institutions to receive appropriate medical care. When the service is requested, an accompanying staff member called a 'Mate' supports administrative assistance such as accompanying from home to hospital and back, as well as hospital reception and payment.

The idea for this service came largely from CEO Ji Seungbae (44), influenced by his father who battled illness for a long time. When Ji was in his early 30s, his father suffered from a rare disease that caused gradual muscle loss. Because it was a rare disease, Ji could not even find out the exact name of his father's illness and often had to visit large hospitals with him. However, balancing work and caregiving, Ji was exhausted and sought a place to help with his father's hospital visits, but no service met his needs. From this experience, Ji founded Withmate in 2017. Fortunately, after eight years of caregiving by Ji, his father was declared fully recovered.

Withmate's main services include the 'Pro Service' and the 'Basic Service.' The Pro Service involves a Mate accompanying the patient from their home to the hospital, assisting with hospital tasks, and then accompanying them back home. The Basic Service does not include accompaniment to and from the hospital but provides support by acting as a guardian within the hospital. Ji explained, "If the Pro Service starts and ends at the patient's home, the Basic Service starts and ends at the hospital," adding, "Mates assist throughout the entire process, including medical appointment accompaniment, guardian representation, and hospital administrative support."

Mates are mainly composed of individuals with relevant certifications such as care workers, nursing assistants, and social workers. Some Mates do not hold certifications but include cancer survivors who have overcome the disease. These cancer survivors accompany patients undergoing cancer treatment, serving as mentors. Withmate currently collaborates with the National Cancer Center to provide not only hospital accompaniment services but also emotional support services for cancer patients. Ji stated, "We have a deep understanding of cancer patients," and added, "Our goal is for those who have recovered from cancer to accompany patients, empathize with their pain, and encourage them to fight and overcome the disease."

During the provision of hospital accompaniment services, the aspect Mates pay the most attention to is the safety of elderly clients. Ji said, "Many elderly people hesitate to use wheelchairs or canes because they do not want to reveal to others that they are patients, even when they are struggling," and added, "Therefore, we pay close attention to preventing falls and emphasize to Mates that they must do their best to prevent fall accidents."

A manual for Mates was also created. The manual contains detailed information about the meaning of hospital accompaniment services and points to be careful about when accompanying elderly clients. Ji said, "We have been creating the manual since 2017," and added, "Currently, we are working with medical staff from the Cancer Center to further develop the existing training manual."

Ji hopes Withmate will become a company that covers everything from well-being to well-dying. He said, "We can be seen as a service at the very beginning stage of illness, and the final stage is funeral services," adding, "We want to be a company that can care for people from the start of their illness to the very end."

Jiseungbae, CEO of Withmate. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Below is a Q&A session.

- What inspired you to devise the hospital accompaniment service?

▲ When I was in my early 30s, my father was diagnosed with a rare muscle-related disease. I cared for him for eight years, and four of those years were spent trying to identify the exact disease. If we had known the precise diagnosis, we could have scheduled hospital visits accordingly, but since we didn’t know, we had to visit many hospitals. There was hardly a hospital we hadn’t been to with my father. At that time, my mother had to run a store, and my sister was married, so as the son, I mainly took care of him.

- Many people are unfamiliar with the hospital accompaniment service.

▲ Simply put, when a family member needs to go to the hospital, this service acts on behalf of busy guardians to fulfill their role. Mates handle administrative tasks within the hospital, including kiosks, on behalf of the guardian, and if waiting times are long, they inform the family about the reasons for the delay. They also assist with medication pickup and help patients move within the hospital.

- What is the purpose of providing hospital accompaniment services?

▲ Often, when children ask about illnesses, parents tend to downplay or hide their conditions. Children only find out about the disease when it has progressed to an untreatable stage. We believe the essence of our service is to deliver facts about diagnosis and treatment results to the guardians. We inform guardians about how patients should take their medication, whether test results have improved or worsened compared to last time, and what treatments are planned next. This helps prevent the illness from worsening before it’s too late.

- What should Mates pay the most attention to?

▲ We have guidelines on what Mates should not do with patients. For example, they should not ask how the disease was contracted or bring up deep family issues. Regarding kindness, we inform Mates that the service should not be overly formal. We tell them to convey the feeling of going to the hospital with an aunt or uncle, not in a superior-subordinate relationship. Building rapport with patients is very important.

- What are your future goals?

▲ In the short term, we want to provide care services specialized for specific diseases. Currently, we offer general services to anyone needing hospital accompaniment. We want to advance by training more Mates specialized in diseases like cancer to provide specialized services. Ultimately, our goal is to become a company that covers everything from well-being to well-dying.