What started out as pharmacist Michelle Gray’s vision for an ideal community pharmacy with a focus on health and lifestyle has quickly grown into an essential service for customers throughout the Kootenays.
Andy and Michelle Gray opened Gray’s Compounding Pharmacy in May 2013 in Kimberley’s Marysville area, delivering compounded medications (personalized for patients in specific strengths and dosages) to customers throughout the East Kootenay.When they had the opportunity to partner with Golden Life Management and supply medications to six of its long-term-care seniors care facilities, from Kimberley to Fernie to Grand Forks, another facet of the business was born—and another capital investment was required.
With a loan from the Trust, the Grays were able to invest in the equipment they needed to supply, deliver and track medications for approximately 350 residents. The focal purchase was a packaging machine that individually pouch-packages and labels all medications, vastly improving ease of delivery for the nurses.
The Grays are also bringing technology into the facilities through an electronic medication management system, meaning nurses no longer have to log everything on paper. “The tracking and the data that they’re able to gain from the system is one of the real big advantages,” says Andy, “so we can all continue to become more efficient, but also to improve patient safety and patient compliance.”
