The company’s goal is to have 103 total pharmacy care clinics under the corporate banner across the province by the end of this year
Alberta’s government is celebrating a four-year $77-million investment by Shoppers Drug Mart to expand its pharmacy clinics across the province, saying it will ease pressure on a strained public health care system.
The goal is to have 103 total pharmacy care clinics under the corporate banner across the province by the end of this year — an increase of 44 locations.
“The clinics are helping to backstop the provincial health-care system by improving patient experience and increasing access to primary care, giving Albertans more options when they need them,” said Leger, who added some 200,000 Albertans have visited the company’s pharmacy clinics since the first one opened in Lethbridge in 2022.
UCP Premier Danielle Smith called the clinics a “step forward for accessible primary health care” and a relief for the overburdened public system.
“Increased accessibility will take tremendous pressure off of doctors’ offices and emergency rooms of hospitals and people who are under the weather won’t have to travel far or spend so much time waiting or suffering to receive medical assistance,” she said.
Jobs, Economy and Trade Minister Matt Jones clarified that no provincial subsidies went into Shoppers Drug Mart’s expansion plan, but said Invest Alberta, a Crown corporation that aims to attract businesses to the province, paved the way for the final investment decision.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said the expansion “aligns” with the government’s efforts to reorganize the health care system — a shift that will see Alberta Health Services dismantled as the sole health authority and four new governing agencies created.
LaGrange also clarified that the government is not directly funding pharmacy-led clinics, although many pharmacy services are covered by the province.
Pharmacies can bill the province for services under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan, including administering an injection, providing an emergency prescription, or helping to manage a chronic illness like diabetes.
LaGrange said the province is “getting very close” to finalizing a deal with nurse practitioners that will allow them to open independent clinics and continues to work with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) to stabilize family medical practices.
Doctors are anxiously awaiting $ 200 million in funding that was announced in December, as well as a new compensation model to replace fee-for-service, as 61 per cent of family doctors say they are considering an exit from their practice or the province.
AMA president Dr. Paul Parks said in a statement to Postmedia he remains focused on keeping family and rural medicine clinics open, and the government needs to recognize the urgency.
“Albertans still want to keep their family and rural generalist doctors,” he said, adding that although he doesn’t know all the details of the announcement on pharmacy clinics, his first reaction “is that it does nothing to change my extreme concern about what’s happening with patient access to comprehensive life-long care.”
Alberta Opposition Leader Rachel Notley, at an unrelated news conference Thursday, called the announcement an “empty effort to distract Albertans and to gaslight them” from the UCP’s failure to follow through on its health-care promises.
“Pharmacists have an important role to play, but our family physicians and nurses, and many other frontline health care professionals within the public system, must be supported. The announcement today is just not a replacement for that — no matter what you call it,” said Notley.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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