I’ve been a pharmacist in the Hamilton-Ascot area for 20 years.

I love my job. I love seeing the difference a good community pharmacy can make to people’s lives. But there is a part of our community that is not as well served as it could be: Hamilton Portside.

Hamilton Portside badly needs its own pharmacy. For the thousands who live there, right now my pharmacy on Racecourse Road is the closest option. That’s too far for anyone with mobility issues, which is why we make in-person deliveries every day to people living at Portside.

It’s time for a real solution. I’ve applied to open a new community pharmacy across from the Portside IGA. Everyone I’ve spoken to agrees it makes sense and will make life much easier for locals. 

But because of Federal health department rules about proximity to existing pharmacies—that ignore little details like six-lane roads!—my application will almost certainly be rejected.

Our only chance to get a local pharmacy for Portside is for the Federal Health Minister Mark Butler to intervene. 

Can you help me let Minister Butler know how much Portside needs its own pharmacy?