VOL. 68 NO. 27
65 YEARS OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015
Big Pharma a bitter pill to swallow
Michael Simpson Editor It’s the way of the future, but to seniors and their families living in Vegreville, it doesn’t feel right. These were the sentiments expressed by residents at Heritage House and Century Park, two seniors living facilities owned and operated by Points West Living. The company recently announced to its residents that it will be switching its preferred provider of prescription medication from local pharmacy Value Drug Mart in Vegreville to a centralized operation run by Pharmacare, based out of Edmonton. The company’s paper trail leads back to Toronto, where parent company Centric Health is busily acquiring multiple medical dispensary and seniors facilities in western Canada. Pharmacare is touted as having a 40 year history in the business of providing medications, and six years managing electronic health records. To Value Drug Mart owners Curtis and Jamie Hirsch, the loss of approximately 80 clients over the next few years will mean an approximate decrease in business by 10 per cent. Despite efforts to contact PWL once notified of the change,
the Hirsch’s were unsuccessful in getting any response. “We just got a phone call from Points West Living saying that after September they would be changing their provider,” Curtis said. “There was no reply to our numerous emails or phone calls wanting to discuss this. We never received any communication about what we could do to continue doing business. This will ultimately affect staffing, business hours and deliveries.” Curtis admits the new Electronic Medical Administration Records (EMAR) offered by Pharmacare are a comprehensive system, but not impossible to match had Value Drug been given a chance. “It’s a cool system, but we were never approached. We’re heavily invested in this community and we would have liked the chance to continue bringing service in the new capacity. To be clear, the group bringing the new services isn’t bad, they’re just not local.” At a series of open meetings on June 29, representatives from PWL and Pharmacare explained the advantages of the new system, such as a reduced margin of error in medication administering, controlled dosing and uniform CONTINUED TO PAGE 8
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