Janzen's Pharmacy Offers First Class High Tech Service
by Scott A. Sumner
www.thunderbaybusiness.ca
When I first walked into the newly renovated Janzen's Pharmacy at the corner of Bay and Algoma, you could not help but notice the hustle and bustle of a very busy staff. In fact since Brenda Adams, Pharmacist/Business owner took over the pharmacy in 2000 their staff
complement has grown from 8 to 40 people! This is one active place and was quite exciting to see right here in Thunder Bay. There has been a pharmacy at Bay and Algoma for over 90 years, since around 1916 according to Brenda Adams who was born and raised in Thunder Bay and went to the University of Manitoba for her pharmacist training.
“I came here in 2000 as a pharmacist and bought Janzen's in December 2002. My first history was with the chain pharmacy. There are now only two independent pharmacies left in Thunder Bay, ourself and Woit’s,” noted Adams. “ Our pharmacy has been renovated 6 times in the last 7 years to keep up with our growing needs. We have grown under this roof so you have to keep changing to accommadate more people. The location is very important because of the history. People know us for being at the corner of Bay and Algoma. We serve a lot of clients that are within walking distance of this area so we do need to be here. Many people come here and we provide many services for them.”
“We have 6 pharmacists full time and former owner Fred Jansen comes back in the summers to help us. There are pharmacy technicians, pharmacy assistants, a nurse practitioner, a nutritional health specialist, IT people who just do our information systems and
purchasing and receiving. Our pharmacy is very departmentalized. We have a compounding department, a compliance and assistive living department, long term care area and are very specialized,” smiles Adams. “ The main business here is pharmacy, not other products like
groceries. We are a true pharmacy like in the old days and one of the largest independent pharmacies in Canada.”
Janzen's Pharmacy services all of the city and outlying areas, long term care facilities and a lot of clients that take advantage of their speciality services like their nutritional health consultant, nurse practitioner or compounding services. They ship to clients outside of Thunder Bay. By first meeting the clients here in Thunder Bay they then can take advantage of the speciality services offered by Janzen's. For instance compounding is the preparation of medications that aren't commercially available. Janzen's has an on site lab and make things that are customized to an individuals needs. For example if someone can’t swallow a pill they can make it into a liquid for them or if a tiny dose is needed for a baby that isn't available they can do that. You can also mix the drugs but it is not common. The staff at Janzen's have specialty training in this area.
The full time nutritionist at Janzen's offers health supplements and vitamins that are very important in a persons health regiment these days. “People are looking for other things as an alternative to drugs. We felt it was best to have someone here to help the client make good
decisions with our staff. Today our food doesn’t have the nutrition it used to have. Our soils are depleted, that kind of thing. We need to be wise in our choices,” said Adams. “ The nurse practitioner bridges a gap in our health care system. He provides services to Janzen's
Pharmacy clients as an employee of Janzen's Pharmacy. If you are out of refills he can bridge the gap until you get into your doctor’s office. He can also prescribe some things in conjunction with a physician at the walk in clinic located next to us.”
“ The people come here because of service. That is what we pride ourselves on and that is what we strive to provide- exceptional service to our clients. People comment that the staff are always smiling. Our customers are greeted by name, we know them and chat with them. It is a different environment and really important,” said Brenda Adams. “ The service is where we set ourselves apart. We add more staff as soon as we think the need is coming. We are here to serve the people. As well over the years we have made major capital investments. In the last
renovation we put effort into the esthetics of the store with a designer and a marketing firm. In the past we invested in robotics machines so we are very high tech in our dispensing approach. We have cutting edge technology and always want to be the first in Thunder Bay,
Ontario and maybe Canada to go live with new equipment. We are working now on some new technologies that will go to our long term care facilities that will make them cutting edge.”
“ We have 5 customer service people to greet customers and another 5 behind them. Here at Janzen's we allow our staff to spend some time with the customers. We do what ever it takes and make sure we have the manpower to do the job. We could run the store with less people but our service would be like others,” said Cathy Pratola, Pharmacy Manager. “ During our grand opening last weekend we had over 1000 people come in. Everyone had a piece of cake and coffee. They told us stories of their history with Janzen’s over generations.”
“ We love the field. Love it! It is fun coming in every day. We have fun here at work.We have no limits,” smiles Adams. “ We are fortunate. Thunder Bay is a really great place to be in business. Hopefully more people will think of that and invest in the community. I like the fact that people know each other and the community is easy to get around. It is easy to make contacts here and to give back to the community.”
To experience the positive, busy atmosphere of Janzen's Pharmacy you should walk into their newly renovated store. There is lots of parking at the rear of the building. I think you will be impressed!
