The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
By Jonathon Naylor As the NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority works to select a pharmacy to supply Flin Flon care homes with prescription drugs, one thing is obvious. Rather than continuing to purchase those medications from Extra Foods in The Pas, the RHA should select one of our three local pharmacies. The RHA had been buying drugs for the Personal Care Home and Northern Lights Manor from the Flin Flon Extra Foods store until its surprise closure last October. Until a new contract could be hammered out, the RHA continued to rely on Extra Foods, only this time from a store 140 kilometres away. This has quite understandably raised health and economic concerns. Should our most vulnerable citizens endure delays in receiving the medications they need? Should our local pharmacies, which provide employment and support our economy, be left out in the cold? Helga Bryant, CEO of the RHA, recently told The Reminder that the RHA's latest request for proposal process for care home medications was complete and vendor selection was underway. Asked whether a local pharmacy would be chosen, she said there will be several factors to consider. 'The awarding of a contract is not just based on lower bid but on a number of considerations, including cost, clinical support, meeting of standards, etcetera,' Bryant said. Criteria Of course there are criteria that must be met for the contract, but it would be surprising if any of Flin Flon's pharmacies fail to meet them. It would be equally shocking if any of our three pharmacies chose not to bid on the contract given that it must be fairly lucrative. Of course cost is another element. But let's suppose for a moment that Extra Foods in The Pas wishes to continue supplying Flin Flon care homes with medications and offers the cheapest price. On the one hand, this would save taxpayers money and afford the RHA more dollars with which to (hopefully) improve other areas of care. But that would still not excuse the unnecessary delays for our seniors or the missed economic benefits for a community that needs all the jobs it can get. Besides, the RHA spent nearly $100 million in 2010-11. Even if a local bid were hypothetically a bit higher than a non-local bid, surely the organization could afford the difference. City councillor Karen MacKinnon last year made inquiries about this whole debate to RHA reps and said she relayed 'very strongly' that a local pharmacy should have the contract. She is correct, and the rest of council should get behind her in that statement, if they have not already. Citizens who agree should also be in contact with the RHA. This is not about interfering with market forces or health decisions. It's about doing what is right for our seniors and our community. Local Angle runs Fridays.
