Pharmacist owners in the Lac-Saint-Jean region are at a loss as to how to recruit new pharmacists. One owner is even offering a $50,000 hiring bonus, while others are having to fill all the time slots in their pharmacy.

That's the case for Marc Savard and André Auclair, co-owners of the Accès pharma counter at Walmart in Alma, Que.

"I've been advertising at the pharmacy school in Quebec City for at least six months, but we can't find anyone," said Auclair. "As a result, the two pharmacists have to be in the office seven days a week, all the time. Holidays? We forget about it."

The same problem has been noted at the Alma Pharmaprix, where they have decided to use all available means. For the past few weeks, the pharmacy has been offering nothing less than a $50,000 hiring bonus in the hope of attracting a new pharmacist.

With three salaried pharmacists working in her pharmacy, Caroline Lamontagne, pharmacist and owner of the Jean Coutu in Roberval, believes that she is "probably the best off in the whole sector."

Nevertheless, it would only take one pharmacist to go on maternity leave for her to find herself in trouble for a year, she said.

Although a fifth pharmacist would be welcome, Caroline Lamontagne said she is not actively looking for one given the "appalling lack (of staff for) other pharmacies in the area."

In the upper part of the region, Jean-Sébastien Ménard said he's also lucky to have a team of eight pharmacists for his Jean Coutu stores in Dolbeau and Mistassini, which he co-owns with his colleagues Philippe Lavoie and Marc-André Bouchard.

But if he needed new staff, "I'm sure that I would have difficulty recruiting," he said.

MORE WORK, BUT NOT MORE PHARMACISTS

At the same time, the lack of new pharmacists is making it difficult for pharmacists to keep up with the increasing number of tasks they have to perform in recent years.

"We don't have more people, but we do have more work. It's nice to shovel things in our yard, but it takes people to do the work," said Auclair.

Among other things, following reforms aimed at relieving front-line services, pharmacists are now increasingly taking on the role of health advisor.

"For the past two years, several other clinical tasks, such as prescribing drugs in case of emergency, have been entrusted to pharmacists under Bill 31. But all this does not free me from my acts of verification and distribution," said Lamontagne.

- This report by Le Lac St-Jean / The Local Journalism Initiative was first published in French on April 8, 2022