Colleen Hogg, the owner of People’s Drug Mart on Quadra Island, was recognized with the 2016 Excellence in Practice Award, presented by the B.C. pharmacy Association.
Hogg is a passionate advocate for not only expanded pharmacy care but also the safe and reliable delivery of health-care services for residents of remote locations.
“Growing up in a small town, you feel invested and part of the community,” Hogg said, in a press release. “I always knew I wanted to try and find a way to help people and feel like I’m contributing.”
The award was presented to Hogg at the BCPhA Annual Conference in Kelowna on May 27. The award recognizes a pharmacist who is actively involved in their profession and their community and who also creates awareness of the value and contributions of community pharmacy through their practice. They have gone above and beyond in their profession.
Dedicating her career to high-quality care for local customers, she strives to meet the growing and changing needs of her community, introducing medication reviews, individual personalized medication cards, immunizations as well as providing a much-needed local source for over the counter medication, mobility aids and First Aid supplies for the area’s growing senior community.
In partnership with her area’s fellow health-care practitioners, Hogg has helped secure a high level of thoughtful and thorough care for customers, encouraging a strengthened physician presence on the island over the last decade.
Reaching out to surrounding communities, Hogg has grown her business twice to meet the unique needs of several Vancouver Island communities. For nearly a decade, she has operated a remote location at the Community Health Centre on nearby Cortes Island, providing regular prescription pick-up service to island residents throughout the week. And more recently, Hogg has operated one of B.C.’s few telepharmacies in nearby Gold River, a small community in desperate need of pharmacy services but unable to support a full-time pharmacy team.
A regular participant in pilot projects and research studies, such as the development of the ADAPT program, Hogg encourages young pharmacists and fellow owners to expand their areas of expertise and strive to elevate their profession of pharmacy throughout excellent patient care and new program offerings.