After an impassioned plea from Arthur Pharmacist Joe Walsh at Monday evening's council meeting, Wellington North has thrown its support behind pharmacists in their fight against the provincial government's plan to reform the prescription drug system. ?The government says the reforms will "ensure wider availability of more affordable drugs by ending professional allowances (paid by drug companies to pharmacies when they stock their shelves with generic prescription drugs) and more fairly compensate pharmacists for the work they do."  But Mr. Walsh, pharmacist and owner of Walsh's Pharmacy in Arthur, says the reforms mean the " provincial government does not care about rural healthcare" and says pharmacies such as his "are at the 11th hour... closing in on doomsday for rural healthcare".?Mr. Walsh says the provincial government has "recklessly cut $750 million from the funding given to pharmacies to provide healthcare in the 'front lines'" which translates to a $300,000 for each of the next three years for his family business. Health Minister Deb Matthews has said the rebates usually go towards profit and not patient care but Mr. Walsh said that is not true. The cuts will mean staff cuts which will result in less time to discuss prescriptions with patients and longer waits -- days, not minutes -- to have prescriptions filled. It could mean getting an answering machine instead of a person when you call his pharmacy, reduced hours of operation, no deliveries, a cost to use the blood pressure machine and a cost to fax doctors for refills. It will also mean, Mr. Walsh said, "no money for community involvement".?"I could show you my books. I did not make $300,000 profit," he told council. "I cannot survive these cuts. The five pharmacies that provide services to Wellington North Township residents will not survive."?People who get prescriptions filled at Walsh's Pharmacy have signed over 1,000 postcards to be sent to Premier McGuinty and another 1,000 faxes have been sent to MPP John Wilkinson on behalf of their local pharmacist. Mr. Walsh says support from his loyal customers "for what we do daily for their health is overwhelming and greatly appreciated." ?He provided a copy of the fax which people have been sending to MPP John Wilkinson which states that they "depend on the convenient, accessible advice and services" they receive from their local pharmacy and that they "want to ensure that our pharmacist is there when we need them. I want to know that I can talk to our pharmacist after work, when I can't get to my doctor's office, or when my doctor's office is closed. I want to know that our pharmacy will continue to be able to provide valuable health care services in our community." In the fax Mr. Wilkinson is asked to "please tell Premier McGuinty and Health Minister Matthews to not make cuts to the neighborhood health care our community pharmacy provides."?MPP Wilkinson has not returned faxes or phone calls from Mr. Walsh, who said he will be at Friday morning's 3rd annual breakfast with John Wilkinson" hosted by the Mount Forest District Chamber of Commerce.  While neither the chamber nor Mr. Wilkinson opted not to advertise the breakfast in The Confederate, we have been invited to cover the event for the paper. It is being held at 8 a.m. at the St. Mary Family Parish Hall.?While Mr. Walsh said he "will fight with every tool I have available to stop the bankrupting of my family business which has been serving the community for over 50 years", he asked council to write a letter supporting its local pharmacies "and what we do for the residents of North Wellington" to be sent to the Minister of Health Deb Matthews and Premier McGuinty.?Mayor Mike Broomhead told council he had had a number of phone calls, from pharmacists, pharmacy staff members a couple of local doctors on the issue and agreed with Mr. Walsh that the reforms constitute "a threat to our community." He said Wellington North council "has a good rapport with the provincial government" and promised that council would take "the threat" seriously and begin lobbying on behalf of the local pharmacists. A motion was passed to send a letter to the Ministry of Health in support of local pharmacies and asking that funding cuts be stopped.
Mr. Walsh's presentation came the same day that pharmacists in Ontario launched a public campaign against the provincial government with radio and newspaper advertisements asking the public to contact their MPPs to stop the cuts from happening. The campaign also includes the website www.stopcuts.ca, paid for by the Ontario Pharmacists' Association, the Independent Pharmacists of Ontario and the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores.?Big pharmacy chains, like Shoppers Drug Mart, have fought back saying its pharmacies will cut back hours and start charging consumers for delivery rates. Smaller pharmacies in rural parts of the province, have also said that they will most likely have to let staff go and possibly close their doors as a result of the changes.?Mr. Walsh said Wellington North residents are welcome to contact him directly to have their questions answered. He also suggested people can go to "www.ontariocommunitypharmacies.ca or www.stopcuts.ca "for true unbiased information on these government cuts."