Photo: Cheryl Gallant, MP with local Pharmacist Brian Mulvihill


Pembroke, Ontario… Cheryl Gallant, MP Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, would like to assure constituents that any changes to pharmacare, including the recent decision by a Renfrew County long-term care home to change its medications provider from a local pharmacy to one from around Toronto, is not an area regulated by the Federal Government.

“Some confusion may exist regarding a federal role and Accreditation Canada. Accreditation Canada is a not-for-profit, independent organization. Facilities such as Marianhill and Miramichi Lodge pay to be members of this national organization. As a national organization, membership is a voluntary, business decision. Only the province of Quebec has made it a requirement for its long-term care homes to be members of Accreditation Canada.

“Questions regarding the decision by a long-term care facility in Pembroke, to change who supplies medications for its residents, from a local pharmacy to one from the Toronto area, should be directed back to the facility,” stated Cheryl Gallant, MP. “I further understand the decision to change medications provider is unrelated to the announcement by the provincial government to change the provincial drug system. The province of Ontario is responsible for this and the regulation of long-term care facilities.”

“I remain deeply concerned about the level of healthcare in our community and the continuing shortage of medical professionals. Pharmacists, particularly in Renfrew County, where there is an acute shortage of doctors, are being called upon increasingly to fill the healthcare service gap in rural, small town Ontario,” remarked MP Gallant. “Our number one concern must be for patients.  Fewer pharmacists able to earn a living in our community, and provide some of the services that used to be provided by a family doctor, will result in a further deterioration of healthcare in our area.”

“What is frustrating for me as a federal Member of Parliament is the lack of results from the province to resolve the local doctor shortage when our federal government has transferred billions of dollars to fix the system. The decision by the province in April to de-list communities like Pembroke, Renfrew, Arnprior, Bonnechere Valley and Barrys Bay from the Underserviced Area Program (UAP) makes local recruitment even more difficult. The province of Ontario is not respecting the principles of the Canada Health Act. Perhaps the time has come for the Federal Government to put conditions on where the province spends federal healthcare dollars,” concluded Cheryl Gallant, MP.