Just before and during the holiday break, my community of Quadra Island was suddenly left with a single physician. That this left our island of 2,400 people in a lurch is an understatement.
Without a single walk-in clinic anywhere nearby, our community’s only alternative was the hospital that was a ferry ride away in Campbell River, and us, the community pharmacy on the island. We quickly became a triage centre, assessing patients to determine if we needed to send them to the emergency room in Campbell River, checking if the patient had a minor ailment condition that we could look at, or if this was something that we could try to fit into our only doctor’s already overloaded schedule.
During those three weeks, many of our patients would have gone without medications or care if we did not have the ability to renew their prescriptions or see them for minor conditions. I can’t imagine what would have happened just a few short years ago, and how we would have taken care of those patients had this occurred back then.
This experience, and the similar experiences that I know are shared by pharmacists across the province, confirms that pharmacy needs to be provided with sufficient tools and resources to continue to provide much-needed care, especially in areas where there are few prescribers.
Our profession is bearing more responsibilities than in the past and are increasingly seen as a solution to aid the health human resources crisis.
As we head into 2025, the Association is focused on working with the government to increase compensation for pharmacists. We are working on achieving a long-needed dispensing fee increase, providing financial support for pharmacies in rural communities, advocating for more minor ailment conditions to be within our scope, receiving fair compensation for new services such as lab test ordering, and more.
I am optimistic that, working with the newly re-elected NDP government and Health Minister Josie Osborne, that we will see further advancements and support for the profession. I know we have already had some conversations with Minister Osborne, and that one of the returning government’s promises during the October election was to allow pharmacists to prescribe for more common conditions, as well as testing for routine conditions such as strep throat.
This means that there are likely more changes ahead. We need to be ready to embrace them.
Colleen Hogg
Chair
BC Pharmacy Association