Graham Foster, owner at Lakeside Medicine Centre Pharmacy, holds up a reserved parking sign targeting at-risk patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. At-risk patients can call from the parking spot, and a pharmacy staff member will go to their car to serve them.
A Kelowna pharmacy is protecting its staff and the public by creating a dedicated reserved parking spot for at-risk patients needing to visit the pharmacy during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Graham Foster, co-owner at Kelowna's Lakeside Medicine Centre Pharmacy, said his pharmacy serves many elderly and immunocompromised patients and the reserved spot is one way to allow them to access their pharmacy while limiting the risk of exposure to other members of the public.
The reserved stall prominently states "This stall is for delivery to car only for high risk or elderly patients who cannot be in contact with the public due to COVID-19," with a phone number for the store attached.
"So they don't have to come in and we can go out to them, grab the prescription, get it all ready, and bring it all out to them," Foster said.
Additionally, since supplies of hand sanitizer quickly ran dry at the store, Foster had to come up with a way to provide an alternative supply for his health-care team, who remain in constant contact with patients and other members of the public.
Using instructions from the World Health Organization, Foster contacted a BC Liquor Store and purchased bulk ethyl alcohol to make his own alcohol-based hand sanitizer for his staff to use.
"It was last week when I made the first test batch. It's ethyl alcohol, glycerin and hydrogen peroxide," Foster said. "You have to buy ethyl alcohol to make this. So you have to order that through any BC Liquor Store. You need a piece of identification, your College licence printed out, and about a week later they'll have it for you. You can make 10 litres at a time."