Dartmouth, NS – Every March, the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia (PANS) recognizes the contributions pharmacy teams make to the Nova Scotia healthcare system and the patients they serve as part of Pharmacy Appreciation Month.

This month, PANS celebrates the amazing work our pharmacy teams have done over the last year and the innovations that pharmacy has brought to the Nova Scotia healthcare system. From Canadian leading COVID-19 vaccine delivery to community anti-coagulation management to pharmacy walk-in clinics, pharmacy always brings innovative solutions to the healthcare system.

This year is no different. The recent announcement made by Nova Scotia Health of a proof-of-concept pharmacy-nurse practitioner collaboration in the Northern Zone recognizes the expertise of pharmacy teams and how they have and can improve access to healthcare in Nova Scotia.

“As the professional association for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacies in Nova Scotia, PANS has been advocating for the role of pharmacy in primary care for many years. Since 2017, we have proposed the community pharmacy care clinic as a model that would support patients across Nova Scotia and increase access to healthcare. We applaud this first step by Nova Scotia Health and hope we can move quickly to roll out our pharmacy care model to pharmacies across Nova Scotia who are eager to participate, " says Diane Harpell, Chair of the Board of PANS.

Pharmacists’ scope of practice first expanded in 2011 and has been growing since that time. In 2020, the Province of Nova Scotia began funding several pharmacy services for anyone with a Nova Scotia health card. These include prescription renewals, assessing and prescribing for shingles, birth control, UTIs and the prevention of Lyme disease.

“Pharmacists across the province have been providing non-dispensing clinical services in pharmacy for more than ten years,” says Ms. Harpell. “It is exciting that the expertise of our teams is being recognized by government and Nova Scotia Health.”

PANS looks forward to working together to bring more pharmacy services to all communities in our province.

“We recently met with representatives of Nova Scotia Health and are pleased by their commitment to work with PANS to find pharmacy solutions to improve access to care,” says Allison Bodnar, CEO of PANS. “Pharmacy is a network of 318 community healthcare centres with highly skilled pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. We need to leverage these resources to improve access to care in every community across the province.”

Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of our healthcare system by utilizing all practitioners to their full scope is essential to the sustainability of our system. PANS hopes, by working with our partners in healthcare, we will have many new pharmacy achievements to celebrate beyond this Pharmacy Appreciation Month.

Every day this March, PANS will feature pharmacy team members on our social media celebrating the contributions they make every day for their communities and the people who live and work in them.

Follow PANS on Twitter and Facebook @PharmacyNS and on Instagram @PharmacyNS_.

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For more information, contact:
Amy Wagg
Director of Communications
Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia
Phone: 902.422.9583 ext 4
Email: amy@pans.ns.ca