A small town 200 km north of Edmonton is losing its only pharmacy. The drug store will be closed, leaving community members to scramble over what this might mean for their medication.
of Rexall Pharmacy is a key element in Swan HillsAlta. The town has a population of about 1,400 and the pharmacy is the only place where community members get their prescriptions and get some essential items. Now they will have to find a new place.
Pharmacy staff and residents have been told the pharmacy will close on April 30. Rexall says the recipes will be transferred to other locations around the region. Those drugs are up to an hour away.
This is a tough pill to swallow for local families and community members.
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“There are a lot of seniors living here with minimal transportation options and a lot of young families who rely on the pharmacy for even basic needs,” Fraser Pollock said.
The city and its residents say they are left in the dark as to why this is happening. Dean LaBerge is a city councilman and is concerned about what this will do to attract health care workers to the region.
“Keeping them in our community can be a significant challenge, as it is for many of Alberta’s smaller municipalities. If we were to lose our pharmacy, it would just compound what we’re already dealing with,” said LaBerge.
“I’m not even sure, to tell you the truth, at this point how we would try to attract a new pharmacist and a new drug store, whatever that might look like.”
Global News reached out to Rexall to ask why they are closing the pharmacy, but they did not give a reason.
“For many years, it has been our privilege to be a part of the Swan Hills community. We understand how distressing this news is and want to emphasize that this decision was not made lightly,” said Erica Hung, director of communications at Rexall.
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