Dear Procurity Members (in Manitoba),

I am writing to update you on recent activities undertaken by the Public Affairs Committee of Procurity, most notably our work during National Pharmacist Awareness Week

On February 9th Joss March and Jeff Nowatsky and I met with John Stinson, the newly appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate & Provincial Program Support which includes the Pharmacare program. This was the first opportunity we had to sit down with Stinson since he took over the position from the retiring Marj Watts. Stinson displayed excellent knowledge about the file, including our past activities, our joint brief with CACDS, about the work of our organization on Pharmacare and other issues. He reaffirmed Minister Sale’s commitment to establish a Pharmacy Advisory Committee, and demonstrated  his awareness and understanding of the issues, intricacies and challenges faced by community and independent pharmacy. It was gratifying to know that our work of the past two years on these issues has been well-directed and of value.

On March 9th your PA Committee undertook a number of activities in order to complement the advertisements and broader initiatives already planned by MSP. Ours were specifically designed to keep Procurity, the philosophies and concerns of independent and community pharmacy, and the growing role of pharmacists, ‘on the radar screens’ of provincial policy makers and influencers. Sharon Smith of Gladstone, Rem Weiss of Teulon, Barb Cinnamon of Procurity accompanied me to three very successful and engaging meetings, each with a different focus and purpose.

Our initial meeting was with MLA Heather Stefanson, the Progressive Conservative Health Critic and almost half of the PC caucus as well as caucus staff. They displayed a growing awareness and interest in our concerns about the stability and health of community pharmacy in this province.  Next we met with Eugene Kostyra, Secretary to the Community and Economic Development Committee of Cabinet and his staff member Paul Pierlot. Eugene is a trusted advisor to the Premier and his team influences and shapes much of the government’s policy initiatives. Our focus in this meeting was on the economic benefits of community and rural pharmacies and possible impacts should their stability be threatened. Finally, our last meeting of the day was with Deputy Minister of Advanced Education, Dwight Botting and Curtis Nordman from the Council on Post-Secondary Education. Our goal there was to keep them and their officials informed about pharmacist supply and retention issues and to encourage them to increase intake at the Faculty of Pharmacy.

The activities of the day culminated with our inaugural ‘Spring Encounter’ cocktail reception, held in the Legislative Dining Room. The event was very well-attended by MLA’s from all three political. A highlight of the evening’s attendees was Health Minister Tim Sale, who came down to welcome us just prior to our event and then rejoined our party later following the conclusion of another commitment. He had many kind words to say about our organization and our efforts. Also in attendance were a number of our own Board members (Vern Appleyard and Dennis McMillan), Scott Ransome  and Michelle Glass from MSP, Toby Oswald-Felker, CACDS’ Western Director, Olaf Koester Director, Drug Management Policy Unit at Manitoba Health, and many MLA’s who represent our members in their various constituencies across the province. All stood and raised a glass to Manitoba’s pharmacists and their contribution to the health and wellbeing of Manitobans.

Having shared all this with you, it is still my firm belief that we remain vigilant and not assume that a good working relationship and the respect of senior bureaucrats and elected officials is sufficient to secure a favourable outcome on our priority issues. In these times of cost-containment, government must find savings somewhere, and whether their gaze moves from medicine management to supply management, Manitoba Health has been charged with this task.  Manitoba Health is still considering a range  of measures, including bulk-buying, the cost of goods, and even wholesale up-charges.

We will share more of our findings and details when we visit you for regional meetings in April and May.

Regards,

Wayne Rivers
President & CEO