Screenshot from Ron Hendry's presentation to SACPA (from Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs on YouTube)

By Justin Goulet

Local pharmacy owner shares effects of COVID-19 on business

Jun 18, 2020 | 11:34 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – COVID-19 has caused issues for local businesses, including pharmacies, which were deemed an essential service at the beginning of the health crisis.

Ron Hendry, the owner of Thriftway Pharmacy in Lethbridge shared details of his shop’s experience during the pandemic with the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) Thursday morning.

Hendry said initially, his shop attempted ‘active screenings’, where a staff member asks a patron standard health questions before they enter the shop, such as if they’re sick or if they’ve recently been out of the country.

“[We] found that it wasn’t necessary. We could use sort of a passive active screening where we had two [employees] at the front already at the tills, that could watch people coming in,” he told SACPA members over video conference.

“We placed information [on the] doors [stating] ‘if you’re sick, please don’t come in, contact us [and] here’s our phone number and we’ll deal with you over the phone.”

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He added one concern at the onset of the pandemic was how staff would prepare the premises to accept people from around the community.

“They [the provincial health authority] asked us to designate a quarantine room in case somebody came to the pharmacy that had COVID-19,” he explained, saying the space had to be in an area that is not near medication and should be equipped with safety items like alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

He added that sanitizer was also made available at check-out points and patient contact points in the store. The initial issue staff found was a lack of available hand sanitizers.

“We were able to finally procure some, and we were also able to make some ourselves that we were able to use,” Hendry said.

The pharmacy also implemented plexi-glass shields at its tills, like many other storefronts that have remained open amid the pandemic.

“It was difficult to procure those, we had to find somebody to make those for us and it took a few days for us to do that,” he said.

Like other businesses, limits were put on for the number of people who could enter the pharmacy and signs were set up promoting social distancing. Hendry said the facility was regularly disinfected.

REMOVAL OF ITEMS

Due to the nature of the pandemic, Hendry said testing products for items like makeup and perfume had to be removed from the pharmacy’s shelves.

Hendry said they also prepared for a scenario where a staff member was exposed to COVID-19.

“Luckily, we didn’t have that situation happen at our store, [but] it happened at another store,” he said.

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“I think we’re lucky that we live in Lethbridge. I think we’re very lucky because of the situation that occurred, at any one time there weren’t that many people infected and your chance of getting COVID-19 was fairly minimal [in Lethbridge],” Hendry said.

He explained that if someone with the virus were to enter the store, they would have to be taken into the quarantine room.

Hendry said for quite some time, they didn’t have some of the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to ensure the safety of everyone in the pharmacy.

“It wasn’t until about May the 15^th that our association was able to get us more gloves, more masks and we never did get gowns. We do have shields that somebody gave to us, so we had that but a lot of the things we were asked to do were difficult to do.”

He noted that some services they provide, like immunizations and medication reviews, were temporarily put on hold because of a lack of PPE.

“We’re starting to do those again now,” he said.

LESSONS LEARNED

Hendry said the “scope of practice changed” in the pharmaceutical world.

“Because they allowed us to do certain things that we weren’t able to do before, we could renew medications more easily, we could renew – if we had to – narcotics…they also put us on the front lines indicating that we could screen for COVID-19,” he explained.

Henry believes we may continue to see the effects of the novel coronavirus for quite some time, but lessons have been learned throughout the health crisis.

He said the use of video platforms like Zoom has become more popular and proven to be an effective tool to communicate with patients.

“COVID-19 has shown us that we can do virtual consultations…we’ve learned to change and adapt quickly. All of a sudden, we had to come up with innovative and preventative measures quickly. Curbside or drive-thru service, social distancing procedures – we’ve learned how to do that better.”

Hendry also believes the pandemic has shown a weakness in the country’s medication supply.

Shortages of medication were reported across Canada as the novel coronavirus spread throughout the nation. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, but how can we improve the security over medication supply,” he asked.

Hendry’s presentation to SACPA, in full, can be viewed below.