To the editor:
Interior Health has notified local residential care customers that they are switching from local pharmacies to a pharmacy in Burnaby.
They have had no discussion with the local pharmacies on why they are doing this. Their letter to residents and families indicates there are a number of benefits to doing this however I reviewed the letter with them and they said they provide good records and tracking and are doing everything already of what the letter says the benefits are.
My concern is that if an emergency occurs, some pharmacy in Burnaby will not be able to respond. The local manager’s response was that they will have an emergency supply agreement with the local pharmacies. She was unable to explain what the actual benefits are, and said this is a decision that affects more than Keremeos, and I believe it could affect the whole South Okanagan or possibly all of Interior Health.
If we want to keep local businesses providing services in our smaller communities for the general public as well as services to our residential care facilities then we do not need to export these jobs to Burnaby.
Roger Mayer
Keremeos