Corporate Health

Originally from Steyr, Sylvia Schlagintweit studied ethnology and French in Vienna after spending a year abroad in Paris, before she first came into contact with art. Her first job took her to the props department of Vereinigte Bühnen Wien. But what would culture be without proper mediation? She gained the necessary skills as a training manager at an IT training center and as a teacher of German and French.

“At the time, my husband was a salaried pharmacist who wanted to become self-employed with his own pharmacy,” Schlagintweit describes a decisive turning point in her life. In 2003, the 'Apotheke zum Löwen von Aspern' in Aspern was taken over, an old building with stairs and a tiny salesroom—in short: anything but barrier-free.

Soon after, Wilhelm Schlagintweit, together with the ARTEC architectural team, built a spectacular new pharmacy. The transparent building with a large seminar room has since been grouped around an atrium where a ginkgo tree stands. In addition, a medicinal herb garden was integrated. “The model was the monastery garden of the Hessian Abbey of Seligenstadt. For more than 20 years, workshops have been held there for children and young people to raise awareness of health issues,” explains Schlagintweit. “With the 'Medicinal Herb Workshop for Young Researchers' program, we engage in dialogue with the children by guiding them through the pharmacy and the herb garden, mixing ointments, and making herbal teas.”

Ten years ago, a second pharmacy was added as one of the first businesses in Seestadt. Sylvia Schlagintweit took on the task of setting up the pharmacy from scratch in a community building. “I jumped in at the deep end,” she admits candidly. Soon, the range of medicines there was also complemented by cultural offerings. “There is a lecture hall in the community building where, among other things, we organized readings together with the ‘Seeseiten’ bookstore,” Schlagintweit reports. 

“Especially for those who find it difficult to reach a hospital in an emergency in time. We make this possible through remote diagnosis using digital health applications,” explains Chuchylina. She describes the activities that help change a patient’s life as meaningful moments in her work: “Although I never meet these patients in person, because I might be 1,000 kilometers away, what I do still has an impact.” Chuchylina: “When I see what is possible, I have to advocate for it. That motivates me to find a way and follow it.” She tells the story of a pregnant woman from the Ivory Coast in West Africa who would never have had the chance to have a child without the ultrasound recording implemented in an IT product for telemedicine by SK Telemed. “The examinations and diagnoses were carried out 500 kilometers away in the capital Yamoussoukro.” Or of a member of an indigenous tribe in the Brazilian rainforest who, for the first time, had an ECG taken on site and then received professional medical treatment. The nearest hospital would have been too far away.

Like many technical professions, medical technology is a male-dominated field. However, Chuchylina did not find it difficult to assert herself: “I am very grateful to my parents for giving me a good education and for helping me develop strong self-confidence, so I never underestimated myself. Internationally, I am treated the same as my male colleagues.” She has another piece of advice for female founders: “You can achieve more than you think. Even if it is sometimes challenging: Stay determined on your path, and you will succeed.”

In Ukraine, over 3,000 portable Telehealth Kits from SK Telemed are in use. They help people in war zones, in evacuation centers, or where healthcare and infrastructure have been destroyed. In all this hardship, they enable rapid diagnosis and treatment.

While Catherine Chuchylina’s field of activity for her medical work is the whole world, for Sylvia Schlagintweit, the microcosm of Aspern is what counts most. Her activities are not limited to children and young people. Older citizens are also a focus.

“As part of the ‘Dialogue with Aging’ series, we invited people to the pharmacy for an exhibition by photographer Willi Puchner, who created the impressive photo series ‘The Over-80s’,” she reports. “With a senior group, we visited actress Erni Mangold at the theater.” A pharmacy is “primarily not a place for culture, but a place for encounters,” says Schlagintweit, who admits that the pharmacy also benefits economically. “With the striking design of the Löwenapotheke, we even made it into architectural trade magazines.” ‘Never boring again’ and ‘Aspern shines’ were the headlines of two newspaper articles.

As part of their cultural program ‘Denkraum Donaustadt’, hundreds of events have now been held, all dealing with health topics in connection with art projects. Schlagintweit: “My now retired husband and I are simply very interested in culture.”

The general cultural offerings in Seestadt have developed greatly over the years, probably also due to the fact that Vienna’s city center is not just around the corner. Schlagintweit herself wants to step back a little as a cultural organizer in the future: “We will continue to organize theater performances for children and families. Otherwise, I am very busy at the Seestadt Pharmacy, where I take care of accounting and marketing.” In addition, the Schlagintweit couple is already thinking about tomorrow: Recently, they visited a pharmacy where a robot is used in inventory management and electronic price labeling has been introduced. Digitalization, a future project for the Seestadt Pharmacy.