There are many threads woven into small tight knit communities that help make them function, and small businesses are certainly one of them. For the people living in the Goulais River and surrounding area, the addition of the brand new Pine Shores IDA Drug Mart is definitely something that will tie people closer together.
With the April 11th grand opening, the pharmacy will become the newest location of the locally owned IDA Drug Mart chain. That’s an important distinction according to Joe Greco, one of the partners in the new business initiative.
“We’re 100 percent locally owned,” said Greco. “All money made in these pharmacies stays local. We’re pretty excited because its not some out of town corporation that’s opening something there. It’s local and we are growing deeper roots into the community.”
Greco said the decision to open a remote location of the IDA Drug Mart was made after discussions partners had with people from the Heyden, Searchmont, Goulais, Havilland and Batchewana communities including our existing patients.
“My partners and I determined that there was a need for a pharmacy in that area,” he said. “We looked at a few things and determined it would be a good fit.”
The IDA Drug Mart is part of a new commercial build. The approximately 1,000-square-foot pharmacy will offer the community a variety of convenient services including free delivery from Heyden to Batchawana to Searchmont and everywhere in between. In addition to typical prescription fulfillment, Greco says the new IDA Drug Mart will deliver some other important medical needs.
“For example, we’ll be providing injection and immunization services, travel shots, flu shots and COVID vaccines,” he said. “We’ll have a nurse there a few days a week running a tele-medicine clinic. There will a walk-in clinic. If people need to see a doctor they’ll be able to do that. And our pharmacist will be able to offer prescription extensions, and prescribing services in case you are unable to get in to see a doctor.”
While the pharmacy will not carry confection items, it will be retailing all the over-the-counter remedies from vitamins to pain killers to cough and cold medicines you would expect to find in a community drug store. Hours of operation will be from 10 to 6pm Monday to Friday and Saturday’s 10 until 2. While it will be closed on Sunday, Greco said he encourages all customers to offer their comments and feedback to help owners determine the best plans going forward.
“We’ll be looking for any recommendations the community might have. We encourage customers and patients to share their thoughts with the pharmacist or the owners who will also be worker there. This is our first remote location so we’re looking for all the feedback we can get so we can best serve the community.”
For more information on the opening of the new location of Goulais River, Pine Shores I.D.A. Drug Mart visit their Facebook page.