Swan Hills, Alta.’s only pharmacy set to close on April 30

A small town 200 km north of Edmonton is losing its only pharmacy. The drug store will be closing, leaving community members scrambling over what this could mean for their medication.

The Rexall Pharmacy is a staple in Swan Hills, Alta. The town has a population of around 1,400 people, and the pharmacy is the only place for community members to get their prescriptions and pick up some essential items. Now they’ll have to find somewhere new.

Employees of the drug store and residents have been told the pharmacy is closing on April 30. Rexall says prescriptions will be transferred to other locations around the region. Those drug stores are up to an hour away.

This is a tough pill to swallow for local families and community members.

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“There are a lot of seniors living here with minimal transportation opportunities and a lot of young families that rely on the pharmacy for even just basic needs,” said Fraser Pollock.

The town and its residents say they’ve been left in the dark about why this is happening. Dean LaBerge is a town councillor and is worried about what this will do for attracting health-care workers in the region.

“Keeping them in our community can be a significant challenge, like it is for many smaller Alberta municipalities. If we were to lose our pharmacy, that would just compound what we’re already facing,” LaBerge said.

“I’m not even sure, to tell you the truth, at this point how we’d go about trying to attract a new pharmacist and a new pharmacy outlet, however that might look.”

Global News reached out to Rexall to ask why they are closing the pharmacy, but they did not provide a reason.

“For many years, it has been our privilege to be part of the Swan Hills community. We understand how concerning this news is, and we want to emphasize that this decision was not made lightly,” said Erica Hung, communications director at Rexall.

Watch the video above for more information.