Pharmacy Owner Worried About Himself And His Employees
SAINT JOHN – Ryan Kennedy has had uncomfortable conversations with customers over the past couple of weeks as he balances serving patients and keeping himself, and his staff, safe.
“A lot of us have health issues. Myself, I have asthma, I have a history of multiple lung surgeries, so it’s a little scary to know that the complications could be real,” he said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to be in every day, making sure that people can be served.”
Kennedy is a pharmacist and the owner of the Jean Coutu on University Ave. Being close to the Saint John Regional Hospital means the flow of customers is normally steady.
But the pharmacy was “really busy” the past couple of weeks as COVID-19 mitigation measures started rolling out.
In the last week, he’s seen people walk in even though they have symptoms. But because it’s still cold and flu season and there are other diseases out there, it’s a challenge to know what’s safe, he said.
“There were daily occurrences where we have someone in front of us that easily could have bronchitis or pneumonia, but we need to make sure that number one, we’re giving them their medication, and number two, making sure they’re not infecting anybody else or our staff or our people,” he said.
Kennedy says he’s worked “really hard” to isolate staff as much as possible.
He’s encouraged both staff and customers to act as if they’ve already been infected with COVID-19. He’s limited the number of customers coming into the 14,000-square-foot store to only 10 at a time. He’s installed plexiglass barriers for pharmacists and cashiers. He’s implemented shorter hours for storefront so staff can clean without distractions. He’s also implemented timed hand washing and cleaning schedules.
He says the drive-through option is also “a complete isolated experience.”
“It’s bulletproof glass and then a sliding drawer that comes in and out,” he said. “We send someone the pin pad, and allow them to pay for their order – we’re doing front store items out of it as well – and then when the pin pad comes in…we’re cleaning the pin pad between every patient.”
Signs about symptoms are up all around the store, and staff members are educating customers over the phone when they call in. They’ve asked customers not to come in when they’re feeling sick, or if they’ve traveled or been in contact with someone who has traveled.
“We’re really trying to enforce social isolation with our customers if they’re not even willing to engage with those practices themselves because not everyone is,” he said.
While patients have generally been great as they’re concerned about the possibility of making someone else sick as well, a few customers have had to be reminded about social-distancing.
“I’ve had to have some uncomfortable conversations with people to tell them, ‘look you need to back away,’ or ‘you need to give us some space,’ or ‘please have somebody else do this.’ We can take a picture and print your prescription without handling the paper and then dispose of the paper,” he said.
Thankfully, the New Brunswick Medical Society and the New Brunswick Pharmacy Association have been working together to discourage the use of paper prescriptions during this time and encourage sending them directly to pharmacists.
As more people have been educated over the past couple of weeks, more customers call before they come. More are also using the drive-through, curbside pick-up and delivery service, so the number of people entering the store has decreased.
“It’s become easier to manage,” Kennedy said. “It’s all about making sure that they aren’t entering into the physical space.”
But the recent temporary closures of two Shoppers Drug Mart locations in the Saint John area due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19 highlights the risks that pharmacy workers and customers face, he said.
Kennedy had planned to close the store-front starting Thursday, April 2, and move to drive-thru, curbside and delivery only. But he decided to remain open for a reduced schedule from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., until further notice.
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