Walmart pharmacists at select locations can provide point-of-care testing, administer vaccines, help monitor chronic health conditions, and more.Supplied
When one of his pharmacy patients found herself without a family doctor, Elsayed Aly, pharmacy manager at Walmart in East Hills, Alberta, didn’t wait to step in.
The patient was diagnosed with type II diabetes in 2019; soon after, her doctor retired. Aly, a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), took action right away. He reviewed her medications, ordered bloodwork, provided education about diabetes management (including how to monitor blood sugar levels) and scheduled regular follow-ups.
“For many patients, especially those who don’t have access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, we are often the more accessible healthcare resource,” Aly says.
Thanks to the personalized care he provided, Aly’s patient was able to start a care plan that empowered her to meet her diabetes management goals. Now, “she enjoys her life knowing what kind of complications she could have had if she didn’t get the needed help on time,” he says.
Aly’s patient is far from alone – Canada is facing a family doctor shortage from coast to coast. More than 6.5 million Canadians don’t have access to primary care, a type of medical practice that specializes in internal medicine and mostly treats adults, and 22 per cent of people aged 12 and up don’t have a family doctor. (Family doctors also specialize in internal medicine, but see both pediatric and adult patients.) It’s even worse in northern Canada, where around 55 per cent lack access to a primary care provider, and in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, where that stat is 31 per cent. The shortage makes the overall healthcare system less efficient, leading to more emergency department visits and hospital admissions. In fact, unscheduled emergency room visits increased to 15.1 million in 2023, up from almost 14 million in 2022. That places a serious burden on the healthcare system.
While a pharmacist can’t fully replace a primary care physician, they can help fill the current gaps in many ways. A Walmart pharmacist can save patients a trip to the doctor by providing point-of-care testing at select locations, including blood pressure and A1C blood sugar levels*, extending prescriptions, assessing and prescribing for an eligible list of minor ailments (such as UTIs, eczema and nasal allergies, subject to provincial guidelines) and administering a variety of vaccinations and immunizations, including flu, shingles, travel vaccines and HPV.
They can also help patients manage chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, by making lifestyle recommendations around diet and exercise, and monitoring medications and dosages. That’s exactly what Aly was able to do for his patient—in addition to recommending lifestyle changes to support her treatment, Aly was also able to go over expectations of the treatment including expected side effects.
Pharmacists can’t fully replace a primary care physician, but they can help Canadians manage their healthcare in a variety of ways, which is particularly important amid our current family doctor shortage.Supplied
“I’m always ready to jump in and offer my full scope of practice to help our patients reach their treatment goals,” Aly says.
Primary care is a crucial service to keep Canadians healthy; through the doctor shortage, pharmacists continue to play a key role and provide relief to an already overburdened healthcare system.
“As a pharmacy manager, I encourage my pharmacist team to enrich their scope by gaining more knowledge. All of the staff pharmacists at our store are APA [additional prescribing authorization] and CDE certified,” Aly says. “Having the knowledge and communication skills empowers my pharmacists to interact more with the patient to provide education, check for appropriate prescribing, and collaborate with other healthcare professionals when interventions are needed.”
Visit Walmart.ca to find your nearest Walmart pharmacy or book an appointment for a minor ailment assessment. You can download the Walmart Pharmacy App to manage your prescriptions from anywhere.
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Walmart. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.