How a telecommunications executive is making healthcare more accessible.

By Sarah Kelsey 

“Right now, some five million people don’t have access to a regular family doctor across Canada,” says Juggy Sihota, vice-president of Consumer Health at TELUS. “That varies from province to province. It’s a pretty disturbing stat.”

The pandemic has shone a light on the inequity of access to healthcare, but Juggy knows the issue has been around for decades — with COVID-19 exacerbating it. When you take into account wait times to see a specialist or mental health professional, the current state of healthcare, especially for those living outside of urban centres, is untenable. 

It’s an issue Juggy is committed to help solve.

Having worked at TELUS for many years and in charge of the consumer health division, she’s the person who has been behind the rapid expansion of the company’s virtual care app. By using TELUS Health MyCare on a smartphone, a user from anywhere in Canada can connect to a doctor, mental health counsellor, or dietitian to seek medical care. The service can be used for all non-emergency services, and if the caller has a regular family GP, the information discussed will be securely sent to them. In short, it breaks down barriers to care.

“It’s become emphatically clear what we’re doing is vitally important,” she says. “We want to improve healthcare for all Canadians — and we can, and we are.” 

Since the start of the pandemic, Juggy says there’s been an almost 10-fold increase in demand for the service. It’s pushed her entire department into rapid acceleration mode; her teams have been extremely busy hiring physicians and clinical staff while expanding to other provinces.

“It’s become emphatically clear what we’re doing is vitally important,” she says. “We want to improve healthcare for all Canadians — and we can, and we are.” 

What’s even more inspirational about this growth is it’s all being propelled by a diverse team, with 73% of team members identifying as women and 47% identifying as a member of the BIPOC community. Juggy admits achieving such diversity was no easy feat, but it was a task she was passionate about as a BIPOC woman, and having been the “first” in so many situations. 

“I always say as soon as you are in a position of authority, you need to make the changes you know needed to be made before you got there,” she says. “As I ascended in my career and my influence increased, I quickly did that. I’m really proud of how diverse we are. We are now far more representative of the markets we are serving.” 

Beyond just being diverse, the team works together to create an inclusive environment. She has men on her team who have been some of the most amazing champions of women, and women who support BIPOC men. The end goal is about creating teams that help build momentum to support the DEI movement — only then will it multiply and amplify as new leaders enter organizations. 

One way to make this task easier, Juggy says, is to hire people who share your values and who are driven by the purpose of your team and organization. “Seek out people who have shared values. Their values should align with where you work, too,” she says, adding you don’t need to be a VP to spark change. There are often resource groups within companies — TELUS has many of these including Connections for women-identified employees and Reach for Black team members — where shared experiences can be discussed and ideas can be voiced. 

“Don’t let perfection be an enemy of the good or let that be the reason you don’t start pushing for transformation.”

“If you’re in an organization that lacks these groups, start one and demonstrate the value they bring to employee engagement and progress.” 

Juggy knows many feel trepidation about starting something new or pushing for progress and change — both are scary when you aren’t sure who supports your ideas. In the early days of her career, she struggled with the notion that success is often at odds with a person’s need to be right. The latter, she learned, can be alienating. 

“Don’t let perfection be an enemy of the good or let that be the reason you don’t start pushing for transformation,” Juggy advises. “You’ll feel good about starting and can just tweak your idea and scale it and make it better as you move along. Force yourself to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and learn.”

In the end, she says, we should all be striving to leave the world a better place than when we entered it. 

“I believe in social capitalism and so does my organization. I am purpose driven; I want to leverage my own leadership to do as much social good in the world as I can. My team is purpose driven to make healthcare more accessible for Canadians. TELUS is purpose driven to solve this public health challenge,” Juggy says. “I think we are living in a historic time and great things can come from tragic circumstances like COVID-19 — society can become stronger and better if we are willing to work together for that.”