Murray Dykeman Mentorship Award
Steven Hopp
Owner & Pharmacy Manager
Rutland Medical Pharmacy
Kelowna
In pharmacy, people are the most valuable resource. Pharmacist Steven Hopp has spent a career embracing this idea, whether through representation in company or regulatory elected positions, or helping mentor the next generation of pharmacists through preceptorship.
A University of British Columbia graduate of 2002, Hopp honed his skills as a staff pharmacist for Shoppers Drug Mart for the first few years in Penticton, until he had an opportunity to become associate owner of a store in Osoyoos. Soon after, he put his name forward to be part of the company’s B.C. Peers Committee, a group of eight associate owners that represented their colleagues throughout the province. Hopp was elected to represent the Okanagan region, which had about 25 stores.
“I was on the committee for seven years and my job was to meet on a regular basis with senior leadership and advocate for our associates. I’ve always been a person who likes to get involved, and I tend to gravitate towards opportunities to try to make things better for others,” Hopp said.
“During this experience, I learned about the corporate office side of things, and I learned about the struggles faced by my peers and the types of supports they needed. I always tried to ensure our fellow associates had a voice. It taught me that you can’t be stagnant in anything, or the industry will leave you behind.”
From 2018 to 2024, Hopp served as an elected Board Member for the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia, including as Chair during his second term. Here, he learned about the regulatory body’s focus on patient safety and access to care.
Some of the most valuable lessons he learned during this time were on the topic of Indigenous reconciliation, the impact of colonialism on First Nations, and on the role pharmacists can take in supporting cultural safety and humility, to be agents of change to improve B.C.’s health-care system for Indigenous Peoples.
“One of the wisest people I’ve ever met was a gentleman by the name of Sulksun. He’s a Coast Salish elder and knowledge keeper and he worked a lot with us when I was with the College. He always spoke about the idea of ‘Good Medicine’,” Hopp said.
Each yea, Steven Hopp precepts up to seven students from UBC’s pharmacy program. It’s part of how he gives back.
“The Coast Salish word for this is ‘eyhh slaxin’. It doesn’t necessarily mean medicine or medications as we think of it. Instead, it describes a deliberate approach to be ‘Good Medicine’ with every interaction we have with a person, to get to know them, to try to help them and to care for them.”
Today, Hopp is the owner-operator of Rutland Medical Pharmacy in the eastern part of Kelowna. He also co-owns Budget Pharmacy in Duncan on Vancouver Island. Between these two stores, Hopp precepts up to seven students from UBC’s pharmacy program each year. It’s part of how he gives back.
“Many people have helped me and made a difference over my life. Growing professionally can be hard without people willing to give a young person an opportunity, willing to provide mentorship, and willing to help you along the way,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to teach them the right way to be a pharmacist, which to me, is always putting people first. I often learn from them too.”
Hopp said he had the benefit of some great mentors during his early years in pharmacy, and he draws from those past experiences in his journey to be a better mentor.
“The biggest influence on me would have been Russ Cutler, who I worked for at the Shoppers Drug Mart in Penticton. He always put people first. He created an amazing environment where everyone on staff felt valued and important. Russ was extremely involved in the community and understood success was through caring for people. Caring for your clients and also caring for your team,” Hopp said. “He would go the extra mile to care for his people just like they were his family. I have always tried to run my teams in a similar way.”
Hopp is the co-owner of Rutland Medical Pharmacy in Kelowna and Budget Pharmacy in Duncan.
He also credited two pharmacists he worked for while he was a student.
“I worked as a pharmacy student in the summers for the Shoppers Drug Mart in Williams Lake, and there were two great associates: Ted Koelewyn and Don Martens,” he said.
“Ted was loved in the community, he ran a busy store but he always had time for the clients and that really set an example for me. Don was the same way, he truly cared about the community and would go to bat for people. These are things that I took with me, to do what’s right, to be a good person.”
And after 23 years in pharmacy, Hopp isn’t interested in legacy.
“How am I going to be remembered? That’s not important to me. The biggest legacy is the difference we can make for others, the people we reach, and the people we had an opportunity to mentor, who will go on to do bigger and better things. That, to me, is what we should be striving for,” he said.