Joe Walsh of Arthur is worried his pharmacy will not survive funding cuts recently announced by the province.
On April 19, Walsh went to Wellington North council looking for support.
In jeopardy is a family owned and operated business that has been part of Arthur for the past 50 years. Even Walsh is quick to admit he is not alone in this struggle.
Joining him are pharmacy operations, from chain-owned to independents. All see the changes as a threat to healthcare.
“I am writing this letter to you, wearing two hats. One hat of a businessman and the other as a health professional. As you know the provincial government has [proposed to] recklessly cut $750-million from the funding given to pharmacies to provide healthcare in the ‘front lines.’ What this means to my family and my business is a cut of $300,000 per year for the next three years. I cannot survive these cuts. The five pharmacies that provide services to Wellington North residents will not survive.
“As a businessman, these cuts mean approximately 100 people’s jobs are one the line. I have staff who have collectively over 100 years experience in pharmacies. I have invested heavily in my community, in time serving and real estate (new store) – this provincial government does not care about rural healthcare.”
Walsh said his patients have signed over 1,000 postcards (to be sent to Premier McGuinty) and another 1,000 faxes to MPP?John Wilkinson on his behalf.
“The last thing I want to do is lay people off,” Walsh said.
Mayor Mike Broomhead said he received numerous calls in the past few weeks – including local pharmacists, doctors and staff.
“I think this is something we should look at. It is important and we need to move ahead on this.”
Broomhead said he is concerned with what the various stances meant. “It just seems like mudslinging at the moment. I’m wondering what stand your association is taking.”
Walsh said, “This is the first time in the history of pharmacies in Canada that everybody is on the same side against the government … from chains like Shoppers, independent pharmacies, grocery store pharmacies … it affects everybody.”
“As a business person, I’ve invested heavily in the area. I grew up in Arthur. I love Arthur. My kids have grown up in Arthur, that’s why I invested in it. With a stroke of the pen, they’re starting to destroy us. We’re not going to survive this drastic cut,” Walsh said.
He said the government says the move will save taxpayers money, but there has been no mention of when the taxpayers would get a cheque in the mail.
Councillor Dan Yake, too, had been trying to follow the issue. He asked for an explanation of how the funding works, what it does for Walsh’s business and how it helps the customers.
Walsh said pharmacies get a dispensing fee for filling and processing prescriptions and providing information about the medicine.
Walsh said he’s been told medicines in Ontario are more expensive than those in other countries. However comparisons are the United States, Germany and Australia, which have two-tiered health care – and the comparisons are to the lower tier.
“Plus every week, I have people from the States calling me to fill out their prescriptions. If it is less expensive in the States, why are they calling?” Walsh asked.
He said if people want the services they had before, the government plan needs to be stopped.
Councillor Ross Chaulk said if Walsh’s Pharmacy is going to lose $300,000 a year, one can be certain that Shoppers in Mount Forest will lose the same. He pointed to Wellington North just losing $257,000 in OMPF?funding.
“They’ve just sucked $1-million out of this community, so I don’t think we have a good rapport [with the province] any longer,” Chaulk said.
Council approved a letter to be sent to the Ministry of Health supporting local pharmacies and requesting that the province stop the recently announced funding cuts.
