This year we are celebrating a milestone at Pharmacy Alliance – it’s our 20-year anniversary.
We’ve worked hard over the last 20 years to fight for independent pharmacy – we’ve established big partnerships to leverage the collective buying power for each individual member pharmacy, we asked you to band together a few years ago so that wholesalers wouldn’t diminish our buying power, we navigated price disclosure and more recently we’ve taken on a pandemic together.
How Pharmacy Alliance started
Like some of you who are second generation pharmacists, I grew up in my dad’s pharmacy in Albany and from the age of eight, my job was to take out the rubbish and help during school holidays. After graduating, my dad purchased a second pharmacy in Perth which I later ran. Dad and I then purchased another two country community pharmacies. Soon after, dad wanted to take a step back and I realised quickly that I needed help to run four stores. I found there wasn’t a specific support business that could do what I needed at the time. From this Pharmacy Alliance began in 2002.
Looking to the future
Today, we are now in the third year of the pandemic, and we are experiencing the pressures of taking on vaccinations and the lack of pharmacists and staff. But today we stand together and are even stronger because our communities are coming to our pharmacies for their health needs rather than other pharmacies. I am excited for the future and am committed to continuing to fight for locally owned and operated pharmacy owners who know their local community better than anyone. I have never been more confident that we are better together as a group of independents, rather than trying to go at it alone.
Finally, thank you. I am grateful and humbled for you being a member of Pharmacy Alliance and allowing us to add value to your pharmacy.