Fort Saskatchewan now has a new walk-in clinic operated by the pharmacists at the Westpark Shoppers Drug Mart.
Access to healthcare has been an issue lately. Luckily, the expanded scope of practice for pharmacists in Alberta should make things easier for patients to get the help they need.
Back in June, Loblaws launched Alberta's first pharmacist-led walk-in clinic in Lethbridge.
"The Lethbridge clinic has been extremely busy," says Raj Bharadia, a Fort Saskatchewan pharmacist. "They're seeing over 40 patients every day. That success has shown that there's a really big need for this type of care."
Based on the heavy traffic from the Lethbridge clinic, a new clinic has been opened in Fort Saskatchewan.
"What's pretty cool is we're not actually changing what pharmacists can do, but we're really just expanding the space that we have and providing more convenient access to these kinds of services," Bharadia "One of the big ones these days is prescribing for minor ailments. If you have a bladder infection or a cold sore... we don't need to be clogging up an emergency room."
At this new clinic, pharmacists can assess, prescribe, and treat patients for a range of common illnesses and injuries, administer vaccines and other medication by injection, support chronic disease management, and order and receive lab results.
Bharadia also said that they've been hiring more staff in anticipation of heavier traffic at the pharmacy.
"I highly anticipate that we're going to be very busy."