Meet the Expert: Hillary Smith

What is the best part of your job? What do you find fascinating about it?

 The best part of my job is knowing that the work we do helps patients access the treatment they need, alongside an incredible team that inspires me every day through their dedication, compassion, and commitment to making a difference.

What is your superpower? What is your expertise in the healthcare industry?

My superpower would be authenticity. This enables me to build strong, trusting relationships by actively listening, creating alignment, and fostering collaboration with clients, partners, and teams. Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of building a deeply rewarding career that has allowed me to support patients directly, contribute to meaningful projects that impact our provincial and local health systems, advance quality initiatives, guide teams of all sizes, and build trusted client partnerships.

How do you foster a positive work environment within your team?

I strive to create a culture of trust, respect, and open communication where team members feel heard, valued, and supported. I make it a priority to actively listen, provide clear guidance, recognize contributions, encourage collaboration, and create opportunities for ongoing learning and development while keeping the team connected to the meaningful impact our work has on patients.    

How does your team help create healthier futures for Canadian patients?

My team creates healthier futures for patients by showing up every day with care, compassion, and shared commitment to making each patient’s treatment journey easier. Whether we are coordinating an appointment, working through a barrier, supporting a partner, or improving a process, we know that behind every interaction is a patient counting on us to help them access the care they need. 

What do you do when you are not working?

I am incredibly blessed to have 3 wonderful children (1 is my fur baby) and a kind and supportive spouse. In my down time, from September to May, you can find me at the dance studio or at a dance competition cheering loudly for my two girls who make me incredibly proud to be their mother. 

I’m someone who’s energized by building strong partnerships, solving complex operational challenges, and creating better experiences for the people we serve. Throughout my career, I’ve been motivated by the opportunity to listen closely, understand what matters most, and turn that insight into action that drives meaningful results.

My path has been shaped by a mix of client stewardship, operational leadership, and cross-functional collaboration. I’ve had the opportunity to lead strategic partnerships, serve as a point of accountability for high-value stakeholders, and translate priorities into clear plans, measurable outcomes, and stronger long-term value. I take pride in being someone others can rely on — not just to identify opportunities, but to follow through and deliver.
A big part of my work has focused on building disciplined operating models that improve performance at scale. I enjoy using data, frontline feedback, and team input to redesign workflows, clarify accountability, and continuously improve how work gets done. That approach has helped drive consistent KPI outperformance, faster response times, stronger operational consistency, and significant portfolio growth.

I’m also passionate about leading through collaboration. Some of the work I’m most proud of has come from partnering across Operations, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Technology to solve problems, remove barriers, and implement changes that improve both team performance and patient-centered outcomes. Whether it’s scaling a program, improving throughput, or supporting enterprise change initiatives, I’m motivated by bringing people together around a shared goal and helping move ideas into execution.

What drives me most is the chance to make a real impact — for partners, for teams, and ultimately for patients. I care deeply about building trust, leading with accountability, and creating solutions that are both scalable and thoughtful. For me, success comes from listening well, acting with intention, and always looking for ways to make things work better.

 The information provided in this piece does not constitute legal or medical advice. Innomar Strategies Inc. and its parent Cencora, Inc. strongly encourage the audience to review available information related to the topics discussed to rely on their own experience and expertise in making decisions related thereto. Further, the contents of this piece are owned by Innomar Strategies, and reproduction is not permitted without the consent of Innomar Strategies.