Rachel DeGale: Innovating Healthcare at BioConnect Medical Centre

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, Barbados TODAY highlighted women working in various fields – from health to telecoms, from development to politics – as they share their sources of success and triumph over challenges they have encountered. Here is an interview with Rachel DeGale, CEO of BioConnect Medical Centre, about her journey.

When it comes to women’s health, Rachel DeGale is comfortable with the taboo.

After spending nearly two decades in fertility health, Rachel is now the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BioConnect Medical Centre, a game-changing health and wellness facility that focusses on holistic perimenopause and menopause treatments. Dr. Roberta Corona is the other co-founder and Medical Director.

“Any woman that has the privilege of aging is going to go through menopause. Some women are going to sail through it, and some women are going to really struggle, but at the end of the day, you don’t get a medal for slogging it through! You can’t make it to the finish line by not reaching out and getting help.”

To spend a minute with Rachel is to know she is dynamic, passionate and driven to do the best she can for their clients. So perhaps it was no surprise when she shared her own issues with reaching out for help during her ongoing battle with perimenopause.

The 47-year-old credits her turnaround to Dr. Corona’s support and treatment as well as working with the “best team ever.”
How does she think they would describe her as a leader? Firm, but fair.

“I have learned that how I lead apparently is quite unique. I don’t believe as women in leadership… that we have to be boisterous; we don’t have to be ‘little men’. I do believe that we can be authentically who we are as people. I remember my old boss used to say all that time that trust is earned, and she was absolutely correct in that you have to earn your team’s trust. How do you do that? You have their back, from the little details of knowing what’s happening in their life to the big things.”

Rachel believes accelerating action comes from education and awareness about women’s health at all stages and phases. And perhaps that is what allows you to be excited about what’s next.

“When people are talking about menopause they can come with a shroud of negativity, and it doesn’t have to be like that. There are solutions out there.”

This article appeared in the March 8 International Women’s Day Magazine by Barbados Today. View the magazine here.