Humboldt's Pharmasave is located along the city's main boulevard, a nondescript storefront except for the ornate nod to German architecture that decorates the pharmacy's gables.
For anyone passing by, it seems like an average, run-of-the-mill drug store and in most ways, it is.
But something that separates it from other pharmacies in the area is a revolutionary machine in the back of the store next to the dispensary.
Called PACMED, the medication packager has changed the way Humboldt's Pharmasave deals with its patients at St. Mary's Villa.
"It used to be pretty chaotic," says Mike Rath, one of Pharmasave's pharmacists.
For years, St. Mary's Villa has relied on the Humboldt drug store as its supplier of prescription medication for its residents. However, before PACMED simplified the process, the pharmacists would have to package the medication for all 85 residents, by hand, before delivering them to the long-term care facility.
Daily.
Yes, each and every day.
"Every medication had its own blister pack, so each day we'd be gathering the cards, taking orders and sending out the delivery."
It sounds incredibly tedious and Rath says that the pharmacy's purchase of the PACMED has definitely eased the process for both the pharmacists and the villa's nurses who put in the order each week.
That's right, each week, not daily.
The PACMED machine holds 208 canisters for up to 208 different drugs. It's re-stocked weekly, where each Monday the pharmacy will receive the order from the nurses at St. Mary's Villa. The pharmacists, like Rath, punch the order into the machine and like something from a futuristic sci-fi novel, the apparatus goes to work, accurately churning out the medication and correct dosage into a streamed package, ready to be rolled up and delivered to the villa Tuesday morning.
The package tells the nurses everything: the name of the patient, the medication and each dosage is separated by what time it's to be taken, such as at "breakfast" or in the "evening."
It's got it all.
And that's why the Saskatoon Health Region, whose jurisdiction the villa is under, after becoming aware of the convenience of automated medication packaging, decided to put a bid out last summer to start a contract with a pharmacy that had one of the machines.
The region wanted to incorporate new technology into the equation in order to streamline things, which made perfect sense to both the pharmacy and the villa.
"We told them if they remained with us, we'd gladly purchase the machine," Rath says. "Of course, it's very expensive, so we wanted to make sure they wanted to continue their relationship with us before we decided to go through with it. But they were more than happy to stick with us."
And so St. Mary's Villa entered into a formal contract with the Humboldt Pharmasave for the next five years.
"We're really happy we were able to keep it local," Rath says. "That was really important to us. We didn't want St. Mary's to have to venture out into Saskatoon for something we'd be willing to do for them here in town."
The Humboldt Pharmasave is also the main supplier to the Aspen Manor special care home at Middle Lake's Bethany Pioneer Village. And if more long-term care facilities in the surrounding area eventually decide they need the ease of the PACMED, Humboldt's Pharmasave would be glad to take on the role, Rath says.
For right now, the pharmacy is the only one in the area with an automated packaging machine, because of its relationship with special care homes. Other pharmacies wouldn't have a need for it at the moment.
But there's other big, important changes happening at 531 Main Street, and other pharmacies in town.
Thanks to the Saskatchewan Medication Assessment Program (SMAP), individuals 65 years and over can schedule an appointment with their pharmacist for a personal, one-on-one consultation about the medication they're on, at no cost to the patient.
"A lot of it is answering questions and concerns and discussing things like side effects their medication can cause, if the medications they're mixing is safe and if not, what other ones they can consider. But usually, the people who use this program are on lots of different medication and half the time, can't remember what drug is what and exactly what it's used for. So we discuss everything thoroughly," says Rath.
There are some limitations to the program though.
Seniors 65 and over have to be on at least five different medications in order to receive free consultations, or be taking a high-risk medication identified on the "Beers list" provided to pharmacists, or warfarin, a blood-thinner.
SMAP is just one of the recent ways pharmacists are becoming more authoritative.
In March 2011, the prescribing authority for Saskatchewan pharmacists was expanded to include prescriptions for ailments like minor acne, insect bites, cold sores and oral thrush.
However, Rath says he rarely has to use this side of his profession, not because the need isn't there but because not many people are aware of it.
"I don't think the word is out there yet that we can provide prescriptions for minor ailments. I think people are under the impression that we can only extend prescriptions while they're awaiting a doctor's appointment but we can now do more for them," Rath explains.
He says the slogan of Pharmasaves nation-wide is "Community Matters", an adage they take seriously at the Humboldt location as evidenced by the way they're honouring their relationship with St. Mary's Villa.
"For the duration of our contract, we're going to present them a cheque for $10,000 each year. It's just so they're getting something back. We want to show them that they're important to us and that they matter," Rath says.
