Membership for Loblaw pharmacists

Thank you for your commitment to advancing the practice and profession of pharmacy in B.C. and your support of the BC Pharmacy Association.

We have received notification in writing from your head office that they will no longer be remitting your Corporate membership fees on your behalf to the Association. Your Corporate membership expired October 31, 2020. Please renew your membership by no later than November 30, 2020, to reinstate your membership benefits.

You can renew your General membership with or without insurance.

Before renewing your membership, you should also confirm that your insurance coverage with your head office is in place and meets your needs for you and your pharmacy staff.

The BCPhA Insurance program is one of the few occurrence-based policies (think lifetime coverage) still available for pharmacists, rather than a claims-made policy. Meaning regardless of if you move to another country or work in another pharmacy in the future, you will still be covered for the time you were insured through the BCPhA program. Our coverage is also portable so you are covered anywhere in Canada (e.g., flu clinics or even social settings), not just in your pharmacy.

If you have any questions about this change, please do not hesitate to contact Linda Tinnion at linda.tinnion@bcpharmacy.ca or by phone at (604) 269-2864.

You can renew with or without insurance.

Before renewing your membership, you should also confirm that your insurance coverage is in place and meets your needs.

The BCPhA Insurance program is one of the few occurrence-based policies (think lifetime coverage) still available for pharmacists, rather than a claims-made policy. Meaning regardless of if you move to another country or work in another pharmacy in the future, you will still be covered for the time you were insured through the BCPhA program. Our coverage is also portable so you are covered anywhere in Canada (e.g., flu clinics or even social settings), not just in your pharmacy. Learn more about BCPhA's insurance here.

We need your support so that the BCPhA is able to continue to advocate not only for community pharmacists, but also the business interests of community pharmacies across the province. A united voice is paramount when advocating to key stakeholders including the Ministry of Health and the College of Pharmacists of BC, to ensure that the business of pharmacy is heard.

Here are some examples of what the association has working on over the several months for pharmacies:

Increase in publicly funded injection fee

Since March 2020, we have worked with the BC Ministry of Health and the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia to make changes in practice requirements to protect patients and pharmacists. In September 2020, we announced that the fee for the administration of publicly funded vaccines has increased from $10 to $12.10, effective September 1, 2020. This increase was in time for the busy flu season and for future publicly funded vaccines, which will likely include the COVID-19 vaccine.

Audit support during the pandemic

The association successfully advocated the Ministry to stop audits during the height of the pandemic from March to May, providing pharmacies more time to adapt to the evolving pandemic and focus on the safety of you, your staff and your patients.

Financial relief for pharmacies due to the pandemic

In April 2020, we worked with the Ministry of Health and Health Canada to reallocate funds to B.C. community pharmacies to help offset the cost of purchasing and installation of physical barriers (i.e. Plexiglass). We were able to distribute a total of $110,000 in federal funds to all pharmacies that applied.

Working for you: Flu vaccine supply 

This year is unprecedented and we are hearing from various members about supply issues as well as high levels of demand that are unlikely any other flu season we have seen. The same issues are seen across the country with long line-ups and limited supply.

The BCPhA is working for members by identifying problem areas and issues where there are delays in getting vaccines to pharmacies, and relaying the information real-time to the Ministry of Health, and public officials in order to address areas of concern.

More work to be done

The association continues to advocate and work with the Ministry and other key stakeholders on a number of important matters to support pharmacies in BC, including:

• Working towards a long term virtual Medication Review program
• Direct distribution of vaccines
• Expanding use of pharmacist expertise in the health-care system.
• Reducing administrative burdens for pharmacies to improve efficiencies and reduce paperwork for pharmacy forms and processes

We need your support to continue on this work along with many other strategic objectives over the next several years.

Please see below for all the member benefits you receive:

We hope you will continue to join us in our mission to advance the practice and economic sustainability of pharmacy in British Columbia and support us your own general membership.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Linda Tinnion linda.tinnion@bcpharmacy.ca or by phone at (604) 269-2864 or Vince Lee at vince.lee@bcpharmacy.ca or by phone at (604) 269-2867.

Sincerely,

Vince Lee
Director, Member Services