Shoppers Drug Mart can now help deliver healthcare in Burlington.
This morning, Shoppers Drug Mart opened its Pharmacy Care Clinic at its 1450 Headon Rd. location - one of only two in the province.
The clinic, along with two additional locations due to open this year, are possible thanks to the expanded scope of practice for pharmacists.
Through the opening of the Care Clinics, Shoppers Drug Mart hopes to help alleviate some of the strains plaguing the current healthcare system. At the clinic, patients will be able to access a range of services, including assessment and treatment for a range of common ailments, in a familiar walk-in clinic setting.
The clinic features three patient rooms and pharmacists can diagnose and help treat things such as urinary tract infections, cold sores, hemorrhoids, allergies, colds, pink eye, insect bites and tick bites.
Shoppers Drug Mart president Jeff Leger, along with several officials from the Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto attended.
Leger said the provincial government was instrumental in helping the pharmacy care clinic move forward.
“They are the driving force behind this,” he said, adding they’ve been working for almost a year on the project. “Access to primary care has been an issue and this is an innovative and collaborative approach.”
He said there was a lot of care and concern with the patients' needs front and centre at the pharmacy, where they can be assessed and treated on site.
Three patient rooms are available to provide private, one-on-one consultations. The largest of the three rooms is specifically for families with small children and includes a fun television screen where children can play a find-the-object farm game. In addition, they can change the lighting in the child-friendly room to help keep people calm and reduce nerves, especially when it comes to vaccines. It also has an infant weight scale.
Each room has its own fridge so medications are right on hand. They also have electronic height measuring devices to accurately measure patients to ensure proper dosing.
Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre, who attended the opening, is very excited about the new clinic and said it looks great.
“This lets you skip the doctor’s office and come straight here for things like rashes, pink eye and insect bites, as well as refill medications,” she said, adding the new model will help free up physicians’ time as a result. “It’s never been easier and never closer to home than this.”
According to Associatie/owner/pharmacist Fabio De Rango, they can provide the following: assess minor illnesses, travel health, medication management, diabetes management, chronic conditions management, on-site testing, vaccinations and injections and prescription renewals.
Customers can refill medications on their own, through the use of lockers. Secure lockers are available through the PC health app to allow people to get their medications in a fast and efficient manner, which helps to free up the pharmacists’ time.
Anthony Spina, senior vice president of pharmacy at Shoppers said the project got underway about a year ago as a small idea. “Now we can provide care to the community of Burlington,” he said, adding it’s preparing for the future as well.
To prepare for the clinic, the Headon Road location removed an optical area, and reduced the size of its pharmacy area as well as a portion of the cosmetics.
The other pharmacy care clinic is located in Mississauga’s Meadowvale area, while two more of the pilot stores will open this year in Georgetown and Alberta.
