The Sunshine Coast community of Gibsons just wouldn’t be the same without him. Despite an ongoing staffing shortage, Atsushi Sato has been a health-care bulwark for his patients, serving as the longest-tenured pharmacist at his retail store location.

It wasn’t always the case. The London Drugs Gibsons location used to have up to four pharmacists, but pressing needs elsewhere have since drawn them away, forcing the location to reduce its daily business hours to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., down from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. But Sato, the remaining pharmacist, was undeterred by the challenge. Since the pharmacist shortage began, he has regularly taken on longer hours to meet patient needs, including on weekends and after pharmacy hours. Yet the additional workload hasn't stopped his desire to be a constant learner — enrolling in UBC’s Flex Doctor of Pharmacy Program, while additionally serving in a steering council role with the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Those who know him have shared countless stories about his selfless presence and keen attention to each of his patients. Just before the most recent Christmas, Sato helped an overwhelmed young family navigate a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis for their 10-year-old. Family members of elderly patients say they feel reassured when their complex medications are managed by Sato. When a patient arrives by ferry after pharmacy hours in need of their medications, he races back to the store — even three hours after closing. After a rotation at a renal care pharmacy, Sato recognized a high-risk patient with a kidney issue who needed urgent medications and arranged a personal, expedited delivery from Vancouver.

We always put patient care as our top priority. I treat customers like my parents or my friends, and as I meet new customers and get to know them, I feel that they’re my friends, or part of my family, and I want to help them as much as I can.

— Atsushi Sato

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his pharmacy was the community’s only immunizer as public health resources became strained. That role stuck, and today, Sato estimates that he administers the majority of vaccines for the community’s population of 5,000.

“We always put patient care as our top priority,” he said. “I treat patients like my parents or my friends, and as I meet new patients and get to know them, I feel that they’re my friends, or part of my family, and I want to help them as much as I can.”

Sato moved to Canada in 2007 as an International Pharmacy Graduate and London Drugs in Gibsons was his first full-time position. Initially, he wasn’t sure what to expect beyond that the location was by the sea, and that it’s in a smaller community. But soon, he got married and had children, and suddenly, 17 years have passed.

“This is a small community and there are so many connections outside of work,” Sato said. “You get to know people as more than just patients — this person is a teacher, that one plays the piano. My kids are involved in sports and music, so I often run into many of them outside the pharmacy too. Knowing what people do in their lives allows me to serve them better and adjust for their lifestyles.”

Some of the things he loves most about the community are its beaches, how wildlife and nature are close by, and how adventure is usually only a few minutes away.

“After 17 years, I've seen that Gibsons’ population is growing. We’re getting more immigrants into the community, more people moving here to work remotely, and London Drugs in Gibsons is going to meet the demand of that population by working as a team,” Sato said.

“People have family doctors, and I see myself as something similar, a family pharmacist. I know my patients so well, and that kind of closeness is something you find everywhere, but it runs much deeper in a small community.”