A small town 200 km north of Edmonton lost its only pharmacy. Drug stores will close, leaving community members confused about the impact on their medication.
Rexall Pharmacy is a staple in Swan Hills, Alta. The town has a population of about 1,400 people, and the pharmacy is the only place for community members to get prescriptions and buy some essential items. Now they have to find a new place.
Drugstore employees and residents have been notified that pharmacies will close on April 30. Rexall said prescriptions will be moved to other locations in the region. The drugstore was an hour away.
This is a difficult pill for families and local community members to swallow.
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“Many seniors live here with limited transportation and many young families rely on pharmacies even for basic needs,” said Fraser Pollock.
The city and its residents say they don’t know why this happened. Dean LaBerge is a city council member and is concerned about the impact on attracting health care workers to the area.
“Maintaining a pharmacy in our community can be a huge challenge, as it is in many small towns in Alberta. If we lose a pharmacy, it will only add to what we are already facing,” LaBerge said.
“I’m not even sure, to be honest, at this point how we’re going to try to attract new pharmacists and new pharmacy outlets, however that looks.”
Global News contacted Rexall to ask why they closed the pharmacies, but they did not provide a reason.
“Over the years, it has been an honor for us to be part of the Swan Hills community. We understand how concerning this news is, and we want to emphasize that this decision was not made lightly,” said Erica Hung, director of communications at Rexall.
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