Nicola Hoensbroech arrived in Canada in the middle of the pandemic. Her husband’s position with an airline brought the family to the Calgary area. Housing was tight at the time, so they settled in Okotoks. Nicola, a mother of five, was looking for ways to contribute to her community and an opportunity to join the Alberta College of Pharmacy Council as a public member presented itself.
“I wanted to do something meaningful, intellectually stimulating, and challenging,” said the German native. “I’m especially interested in the healthcare sector. I just love health care.”
Nicola, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, has experience working in health care. In the mid-2000s, she built the department of Patient Relations for GSK, a global pharmaceutical manufacturer.
“I started with a trainee program at GSK where I basically went into every major department, so I learned about the process of clinical research as well as the production, the warehousing, and distribution of pharmaceuticals. I also spent some months working for the marketing side and throughout my time at the company, I learned a lot about the many different illnesses and treatments. Furthermore, I got insight into health policy and management. That was very helpful,” she said. “I was then given the role of building up this new department, Patient Relations. Previously, patients had only communicated with their doctor. But with the increasing use of the internet, people started to google about their illnesses and started to approach pharmaceutical manufacturers. Twenty years ago, the companies didn’t have an answer for that because there was no department handling the communication with patients directly. This is why the department had to be established.”
Nicola also brings to Council a wealth of experience working on boards in Europe, including World Vision Austria, where she is heading the governance committee.
“Especially in the area of governance practice, my experience might come in handy because World Vision is highly regulated,” said Nicola. “Standard procedures and governance are taken very seriously there. My experience may help when we discuss what kind of committee structures might be helpful for Council.”
Nicola was appointed to Council in late September and was able to attend her first meeting in early October. It was short notice, but she appreciated being able to participate and meet her new colleagues.
“The experience was actually very positive,” said Nicola. “The Council impressed me. Members are very friendly, humorous, warm hearted, and highly professional. What I like the most is that it seems to be a safe space where issues can be discussed with the necessary candour. No one seems to be reluctant to raise opposing views, and everyone seems to listen and ask questions to make the right decision. And I think those prerequisites are vital for a functioning board.”
As a public member of Council, Nicola hopes to bring the patient perspective to the table and an added international perspective that could be vital in a multicultural environment such as Alberta.
“I think it’s perhaps helpful that I lived in many different countries,” said Nicola. “I have lived in Brazil, U.K., U.S., Canada, Austria and Germany, and I worked a bit in Japan and India. So, I have experienced lots of different healthcare systems in the past. Because Canada is a very multicultural place and changing rapidly, this experience might be useful.”
