Where everybody knows your name: Adding a personal touch to pharmacy in the village of Kaslo In a village of 1,000 people, it’s not hard to locate the only pharmacy in Kaslo, B.C. Situated along the main street of restored buildings from the late 1800s, Kaslo Community Pharmacy has a view of Kootenay Lake and is nestled in a valley surrounded by stunning snow-capped mountain peaks.
Ward Taylor, the pharmacy manager and owner, plays an important role in providing primary health-care services to this tiny community in the West Kootenays.
“They’re trying to make it better,” Taylor says. “But as a pharmacist, the onus falls on you to be there for your patients. I didn’t feel like I could ever take time off.”
Kaslo has struggled to keep a rotation of locum physicians since its long-time family doctor retired a few years ago.
Janice Pawlik is a patient at Kaslo Community Pharmacy and calls Taylor her “go-to guy.” In addition to battling cancer in the past, Pawlik recently broke two bones in her ankle, and after the
Pharmacy manager Ward Taylor owns a second pharmacy in the rural community of New Denver, B.C., about 45 minutes away, and often provides services there via telepharmacy.
Patient Janice Pawlik says pharmacy manager Ward Taylor is her “go-to-guy” for her health-care needs, particularly when Kaslo was struggling to keep a regular rotation of physicians.
bcpharmacy.ca
Nov/Dec 2016
THE TABLET
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