Dear Editor
Concerns about tendering of pharmacy services to Prairie North Health Region care homes has prompted the writing of the following letter to David Fan, CEO of the region.
It has recently been brought to the attention of the Cut Knife Community Health Committee that Cut Knife is in the midst of a tendering process for pharmacy services to long term care facilities. As a community group concerned about health care within our community, we are concerned about the possible ramifications of this decision. We have many questions regarding the process by which this tendering would take place, and how the health authority will make its decision. Through this process will the board accept the lowest tender to try to represent an economy of scale? Would this force all long term facilities to purchase only through the accepted tender?
Lack of transparency at the community level encourages people to be suspicious of all things that happen at the health region level.
It is the understanding of our committee that residents at the care home in Cut Knife pay for their own prescriptions. The majority of these residents have dealt with our local pharmacy for years, and have been happy with the consistent commitment to service from the pharmacy. Does this tender process remove the rights of these residents to shop where they want? The possible loss of business from the care home will also directly affect the ability of our local pharmacy to maintain a viable business.
If the tender goes to a business in one of the larger centers, how often will deliveries be made, and at what cost to the residents? We doubt the health district will willingly pick up the cost of deliveries. A lack of transparency in this endeavour leads community members to feel that these costs will be down loaded to Cut Knife residents.
Our local doctor has a good relationship with the pharmacists who work at Cut Knife Pharmacy, and relies on this service when drug questions come up. This relationship allows for immediate response times that we don't feel will be available should we be forced into a change of supplier. If changes to a prescription need to be made after the tender process, what would the turnaround time be to get different medications to our care home from a larger center, and what costs would be incurred?
The Cut Knife Community Health Committee has many concerns that we feel need to be addressed. We would greatly appreciate answers to our questions about the process and its potential effects on our community. We hope \ any information that we can receive will alleviate the apprehensions that exist. Worries within the community about possibly losing a viable business affect the whole population of Cut Knife and area.
Lyle Cronk
on behalf of the
Cut Knife Community Health Committee
