myGwork spoke to Linette Pho about her incredible career
BY DYLAN MANN-HAZELL
Linette Pho, a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA inclusion in the healthcare industry, has dedicated her career to improving the lives of people living with HIV. Sharing her remarkable journey beginning in a refugee camp all the way to her current position at Walgreens, Linette spoke to myGwork about her ongoing commitment to understanding the unique needs of marginalised communities.
Hi Linette! Could you tell us a bit about your background and career journey leading up to your current position at Walgreens?
During pharmacy school, I came out of the closet. As I immersed myself in the community, I became interested in providing care for the LGBTQIA population. While I was in pharmacy school, I completed a rotation at the first Walgreens Specialty inside the original Howard Brown Health Clinic, which is known for providing healthcare for the LGBTQIA community in Chicago. During my time there on rotation, I knew working with the HIV community was what I wanted to do with my pharmacy career. Over 20 years ago, the HIV regimens were more complicated with higher pill counts, side effects and drug interactions. There was a need for more experts.
I graduated from Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy in 2001. There was only one Walgreens Specialty at the time, so I found a job at an independent pharmacy known as C&M Pharmacy. C&M was providing IV infusions for HIV patients when I started. They were looking to expand their business with oral medications. We delivered medications to HIV positive patients, who primarily had Medicaid and lived in underserved areas.
I made myself well known in the HIV provider community. I went to the Midwest AIDS Training Education Center (MATEC) meetings and A LOT of pharmaceutical dinner programs. I met the organization, Pediatric AIDS Coalition Prevention Initiative (PACPI), now known as Mother and Child Alliance (MACA). I realized pediatric HIV positive patients and their families needed my help and expertise. I have several patients that I took care of before they could even swallow tablets! Several are now married with HIV negative children. I was able to provide Zidovudine solution to some of their children to prevent vertical transmission of HIV. Illinois has very low rates of HIV vertical transmission. This is partly due to the relationship I have with the Perinatal HIV Hotline in Illinois. We work together to prevent vertical transmission of HIV to all newborns with HIV positive mothers.
I worked on building up the business and Walgreens bought C&M in 2006. With Walgreens behind me, I was able to build more relationships with HIV providers. We were able to get 340B contracts with Federally Qualified Health Centers and larger University institutions. In December 2021, Walgreens got the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) contract in Illinois. My Walgreens Specialty location presently provides medication for over 3200 HIV positive patients.
Can you tell us about your childhood – where did you grow up; did you have any hobbies?
My parents escaped from Vietnam in 1975. I was born in a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. My father was a physician for the South Vietnamese army. At the refugee camp, a nun found my dad a job as a medical technician at a hospital in St. Charles, MO. Sister Jo later became my Godmother. We were the first Vietnamese family to come to St. Charles. I grew up as the only Asian in my class throughout elementary and high school. I remember, in elementary school, I would pretend to know karate just based on the fact that I was Asian! I embraced the stereotype since I was the only one. I eventually learned Tae Kwon Do in high school. Other than causing trouble, soccer was my only hobby.
Can you share your personal journey with the LGBTQIA community?
Soccer was my sport growing up. When I went to Loyola University Chicago, I realized that I wasn’t good enough to play at a collegiate level. I came across a group of women playing rugby. Being away from home, I found my new family with my rugby team. Believe it or not, I still was not completely out of the closet while playing rugby in college! While I was in pharmacy school, I started playing rugby with Chicago Women’s Rugby Club. I met my first girlfriend on the team and truly met my people. They just happen to be a team full of lesbians!
I met my wife in 2007. After a hot day during the Pride Parade in Chicago, I had enough courage to bet that I could “woo” her in two weeks. I picked her up on my scooter and the rest is history. We married in 2012. We each went through our own infertility journey. We now have two amazing daughters, aged 10 and 7 years old. And we somehow ended up with four cats!
What has been a standout moment in your career so far?
The transition of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program contract from CVS Specialty to Walgreens Specialty happened on Worlds AIDS Day, 1 December 2021. Our pharmacy was the hub for this transition. Our pharmacy went from 600 HIV positive patients to over 2000 in just a month. It was my time to shine. I was recognized by my peers and was awarded the Regional Champion of Champions Pharmacy Customer Care Award in 2022. This is a great honor in Walgreens – only a handful of individuals in the company achieve this award every year. The following year, I was recognized by Pride Alliance. I was awarded the Community Champion of the Year 2023.
How does Walgreens strive for inclusivity and provide an open space for LGBTQIA employees?
For as long as I can remember, Walgreens has always participated in the Pride Parade and same-sex partner benefits. There is a gender-neutral dress code and a trans/nonbinary inclusion policy. Walgreens also provides education for our employees about inclusive and specialized care for LGBTQIA patients. I joined the Pride Alliance BRG (Business Resource Group) a few years ago. Because of Pride Alliance, I have had the opportunity to speak on World AIDS Day to the company and to be interviewed for a LGBTQIA magazine!
Throughout your career, have you noticed any developments in attitudes towards the importance of diversity and inclusion?
When we received the ADAP contract, we immediately saw a large increase in transgender patients come to our pharmacy. I requested our support centre to add preferred pronouns into our software. Within a few months, preferred pronouns and names were added to our Specialty Software.
What immediate improvements would you like to see being made for LGBTQIA equality in the future – both in the workplace, and wider society?
I would love to see all things involving transgender health improve! Prescription coverage for hormone replacement therapy and its supplies is often an issue.
I would also love our LGBTQIA families that have children to not worry about their children be taken away from them. We live in a society where many of us feel the need to adopt our own children.
Is there anything we haven’t discussed already that you would like to include?
Yes! I am committed to ending the HIV epidemic. Since the start of my career, I did not believe that it was possible to end the HIV epidemic. The regimens, or “cocktails” as we used to call them, were complicated with multiple drugs, high pill burden, toxic side effects and drug interactions. You had to take the meds with food, without food, or with a gallon of water throughout the day. We now have several choices for a single tablet regimen with no food restrictions and minimal drug interactions. We also have injectable medication as an option for both treatment and prevention. Over the last few years, I have helped several clinics obtain access to these injections. It is a very exciting time to finally help end this epidemic!
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