Urgent Update

I'm here before the store opens prepping for another day. Behind me we have ensured that the waiting room creates 2 meters of space between people. We have also cleared away any non essential items to allow for regular disinfecting. Being your personal pharmacist where we try to know everyone's name is really helpful in times like this. We are honoured that you look to us for advice and guidance. Things are evolving by the hour. There are two new terms that are of importance right now. One is "social distancing" and the other is "flattening the curve". I wanted to explain how these terms affect our practice. Social distancing: The pharmacist is the most accessed and accessible healthcare team member in society period. We see more patients every day than any other healthcare team member. Triaging and solving problems, while managing workflow, is in our nature and our DNA. Our team is even making mindful decisions in our personal lives to stay healthy so that our essential services can be sustained. To this end we have also decided to suspend strep throat swabbing at this time. This is because there are no N95 masks available to us to use as protection. It is unfortunate that hoarding has impacted us as frontline healthcare workers in this manner. Due to the nature of our practice, society's most vulnerable (elderly) could be around the pharmacy at any given time. Please be mindful of this. Be aware of your space. Cough into your sleeve and follow hand hygiene. We urge you to organize your refills so that you do not wait in the pharmacy for your prescriptions. To help with this we employ all technology imaginable. Please download our app on the Apple App store or Google Play store. For our particular Medicine Shoppe in Sherwood Park the app is called Telus Pharmaconnect. With this app you can see how many refills you have on all your prescriptions and order them remotely. Once registered you will need a special code to prove it is you. Call us for this code. If you have a new prescription you can send the photo in through that app and exchange the hard copy upon pick up. This process will help enforce social distancing by minimizing time waiting. Please note the app is the only official way to submit prescriptions in a way that complies with all privacy regulations. We discourage the use of email for this reason. You will receive a text or notification when your prescription is ready! If you are unwell please call ahead to coordinate the process. We will put your credit card on file and send our delivery driver. There will be no payments allowed at the door for this service as we need to keep our delivery driver safe. Flattening the curve: This means anything we can all do to avoid peak demand on resources. For example by social distancing we can reduce the peak of disease.

It can also apply to helping service providers minimize peak workload periods.

Please allow 24 hours for refills by calling ahead or using the app I mentioned above. You can also leave voice mail for refill requests. Just be sure to allow 24 hours even if apping or leaving messages. This allows us to even out work load to address urgent concerns as they arise. We understand that people are scared about shortages of medications. Medicine Shoppe Canada is under an umbrella of companies associated with the largest drug distributor in the world. So although we are 100% locally owned by yours truly, we also have the clout and power of this relationship. Shortages have been an ongoing concern even before COVID19. Operating in this environment, might be exaggerated, but it is not new. The key here is to remain calm. We will not allow any hoarding. You do not need to fear that we will allow any of your fellow citizens to receive a supply beyond what is reasonable and due. This brings me to my last point: We all need to respect the seriousness of the current environment but we also need to chill. I urge people to stop posting pictures of line ups and empty shelves. This adds to angst that people unnecessarily need right now. Focus on your own space. Wash your hands. Stop touching your surroundings with your hands. Cough into your sleeve. Do not cough into your hands. See a pattern here? I would much rather our logistics systems and truckers start bringing us hand sanitizer and medicine rather than toilet paper caused by artificial need. Help heathcare workers such as us stay healthy so we can fight the good fight and serve you. Be respectful of space and limit exposure to those around you if you are unwell. Above all. Stay calm. Science, knowledge and innovation will prevail! We are truly honoured to be your personal pharmacist. Please call us to help you through any tough situations. We are here for you.