PHARMACISTS and soon DENTISTS under Corporate control. AUDIOLOGISTS,CHIROPRACTORS and PHYSIOTHERAPISTS are next

The public is unaware as to what is going on, because the professional services received are the same. But the remuneration received by each profession is heading  to the bottom . The profession of pharmacy,  is in deep trouble right now.

When I graduated in 1954 there were 1000`s of independent pharmacies all over Canada and the U.S. The only drug store chain which existed in Canada  was Tamblyn`s, a British import, which was to disappear very quickly. Very soon the Shopper`s Drug Mart chain became  prominent and started opening branches throughout Canada. I ran a small prescription only pharmacy chain called Vanguard Pharmacy which was taken over by the Rexall group. In Quebec the main chain was Jean Coutu owned by a man of the same name. There may be other small chains of drug stores throughout Canada and the U.S. but I am not aware of their names. In Ontario there is a legal entity called an Old Charter Corporation  which allows a non-pharmacist to own the store , but the Rx`s  filled must be under the supervision of a pharmacist. With these old charters Eatons, Simpsons and other department stores got into the prescription business, as well as Loblaws, Costco and Walmart and others. Pharmacist get old, and retire but their prescription business are now sold to these large chains who it appears will be here for ever. When I graduated there was only one faculty of pharmacy at the U of T, but a few years ago another faculty was added at Kitchener-Waterloo. With the number of pharmacist graduating in Canada , and the numbers coming in from foreign countries, there are too many pharmacists for the number of locations where they can be employed. The retail pharmacist has no bargaining power for a decent salary so if he or she does not like the salary offered there are many others who will accept it. I do not think that I am far off, but the salary paid to a new graduate to-day is about the same as I paid 30-40 years ago. Look around you and you will see nearly zero independent pharmacies except possibly in remote areas.

But there is another problem which affects the whole health care system , at least in Ontario. The number of seniors is growing and the health care costs are growing along with it. To save money the Ontario Government has allowed the Pharmacist’s the right to give some injections and prescribe drugs  for certain illnesses . The money received for this extra service which the pharmacist  trains for, goes to the chain corporation. That does not give the pharmacist a good reason to provide this service to Ontario at a lower cost . What is the incentive to provide better service if the chain corporation gets the remuneration. I have learned that 80% of the pharmacists practising in the retail sector work for these chain corporations. The only power that still resides with the pharmacist is the need for his presence to open the pharmacy. A union of sorts is the answer but difficult with the overabundance of pharmacists. The pharmacist has become nothing more than an employee of Loblaws, that now owns Shoppers drug mart or a similar corporation with very little, if any, practical or professional power.

                                 Dentists

The dentist is heading in the same direction but their problem is not as advanced. It is very expensive for a recently graduated dentist to have the money to buy the dental equipment that is necessary to open a practice  or the money to buy an existing practice. There is competition from companies like “dental corp” who bid up the price for buying out the retiring dentist and hire the new graduating dentist. The real boss is the corporation that owns the equipment and the lease on the office. I have a friend in an American city who worked for one of these corporation dental firms. He had to provide a minimum amount of revenue from each patient. He refused and was fired. The profession of dentistry will soon be under the control of these dental corporations and the dentist will follow their instructions or be let go. The dental corp in Canada to-day has  150 locations, employs 300 practising dentists and 2,000 team members. They offer INTEGRITY , INNOVATION,COLLABORATION and EXCELLENCE . It appears to me that is what the College and Faculty of Dentistry offer. The incentive is no money is required, but the dentist ends up an employee with very little power  and no control. If you have hearing problems look up the following, HEARING SOLUTIONS, LISTEN-UP TRILLIUM HEARING CENTRES,, for CHIROPRATORS, there are the WELLNESS CENTRES as well as for PHYSIOTHERAPISTS, and there is HAKIM OPTICAL for OPTICIANS. These are ALL CORPORATIONS. It appears that many of the health-care professionals besides the pharmacists and dentists are in trouble. Corporations are for ever but human professionals are not.

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