Greg Wheeler (middle) with staff pharmacists Meghan and Travis

 

Greg Wheeler, pharmacist and Owner of Remedy’s Pharmacy in Oliver and Skaha Pharmacy in Penticton, along with the entire Renal Team at the Penticton Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Clinic, were presented an award recognizing Skaha Pharmacy’s integration into the CKD Clinic at the Penticton Health Unit. The award was issued by the Health Employers Association Of BC, a Provincial body representing many different types of health care professionals in BC.

A few years ago, Wheeler envisioned a model of collaborative patient care and proposed to integrate himself and his staff pharmacists into the Chronic Kidney Disease Clinic at the Penticton Health Unit. The Health Care Team at Clinic consists of nephrologists, registered renal nurses, dieticians and medical office support team members. Wheeler believes that enabling clinic patients to be seen by a community pharmacist, as part of their primary care team, would help improve their overall quality of care.

Patients with chronic kidney disease typically take a large number of medications, many of which require frequent monitoring and dosage adjustment, increasing the risk for medication discrepancies and drug-related problems.

The clinic’s team members supported Greg’s proposal recognizing it as an opportunity to promote seamless care for their patients.  Together, the pharmacists and clinic team members championed a pilot project where pharmacists performed medication reviews and reconciliations, identified medication discrepancies and drug-related problems. The majority of patients seen by a pharmacist at Clinic had either a discrepancy or drug-related problem(s) with their medications. Due to its success, the program has now been made a permanent feature of the Penticton CKD clinic and has expanded to other renal programs in Kamloops and Trail.