It’s the middle of a quiet midweek hour when Joe Frketic’s pharmacy is interrupted by a rush of 15 people shuffling in. The customers and patients are in a hurry, with those in the back of the line anxiously checking their watches or phones, as if they all have somewhere to be at the same time. 

Like clockwork, the group leaves the pharmacy as quickly as it arrives. It’s a usual sight for Frketic, Pharmacy Manager at the UVic Campus Pharmacy, located within the Student Union Building at the University of Victoria. His patients are almost all students, and serving this population takes a special kind of educator. 

“The unique part is that we’re working with students who are sometimes getting their first prescription, or looking after their own health care for the first time. Their parents might have looked after it in the past, and being here at the university is a new experience for them,” Frketic said. “My role is to help them with that experience.”

Every day, and multiple times a day, the pharmacy experiences these rushes as students race to pick up their medications, to buy an over-the-counter product, or to obtain a prescription for a minor ailment between classes. 

Better patient care drives my motivation to lead. As a leader, you’re thinking about everything globally. You’re not just showing up to be a leader, but also leading by example in doing the work and in providing patient care.

— Joe Frketic

The location is a challenge, to say the least. Unlike other pharmacies that operate with similar patient volumes year-round, the campus location suffers from a severe drop in business during summer months when school goes out of session. Despite that, Frketic’s leadership of the campus location has made the pharmacy a darling in the eyes of students. Prescription volumes are just as high as the group’s other locations, and for minor ailments, the UVic location significantly outperforms all others, and accounts for half of the Heart Group’s total minor ailment prescription counts. 

“One thing we do is a lot of outreach,” Frketic said. “Each September, in the beginning of the school year, we go out around campus to promote our pharmacy to the different organizations and businesses. We make sure the students know that someone is looking out for them, and if you’re having an issue, whether it’s a cold or a sore throat, someone is there to guide you, refer you to the doctor, or provide you with medications.”

A 1992 University of Manitoba graduate, Frketic arrived in British Columbia as a veteran pharmacist and former owner of three independent pharmacies in Saskatoon. In 2014, after moving to British Columbia, he was appointed to head one of the Heart Pharmacy Group’s nine locations on Vancouver Island, the UVic Campus Pharmacy.

Since joining the team, Frketic has led multiple initiatives to further endear his pharmacy with the campus population. These included successfully advocating for HPV vaccines to be covered in the university’s graduate and undergraduate health plans, collaborating with physicians at the Student Wellness Centre to provide continuing education to physicians and patient education for students, and working with the nurses on regular vaccine campaigns. Frketic also regularly presents to other health professionals on Vancouver Island, including presenting on minor ailments and contraception for the Heart Pharmacy staff and other pharmacists in Nanaimo.

Another pioneering step he led was the introduction of strep throat testing in response to patients’ needs.

“We just added strep testing to our services and we’re one of the only pharmacies in our group that provides that. I started it because of the need on campus. A lot of students were coming in with sore throats and were concerned that they had strep, and we wanted to make sure that they could get timely care,” Frketic said. 

On top of managing the campus pharmacy location, Frketic also spends one day a week staffing a second pharmacy in Victoria, occasionally takes after-hours calls to deliver prescriptions and care packages for his patients, and organizes company-wide events like a 2,000 fundraiser push-up challenge for staff earlier this year, personally raising $1,000 in addition to the pharmacy team’s $3,000. Those who know him describe his energy as boundless, fast-paced, and caffeine-free. 

“Things can get a little crazy, but I try to be calm. You have to be. It’s the only way to ensure every situation and everybody is looked after properly,” Frketic said. 

“Better patient care drives my motivation to lead. As a leader, you’re thinking about everything globally. You’re not just showing up to be a leader, but also leading by example in doing the work and in providing patient care.”