Edwin Bruyere bringing pharmacy to Couchiching

Couchiching’s Edwin Bruyere is looking forward to opening a new pharmacy in his home community.
“I am excited about it – it’s been in the back of my mind for a long time ever since I got involved in pharmacies,” said the pharmacist who went back to school in 2001 to earn his four-year bachelor of science and pharmacy degree. “I don’t feel it’s going to be a huge transition for me. I don’t feel like I ever left.”
In addition to his work at the Fort Frances Clinic Dispensary, Bruyere has also been working at the Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre in Couchiching since he became a pharmacist about four years ago. He chose to come back to the area as a way of giving back to the community for all the help they provided during his years in university.
The Rainy Lake First Nations Pharmacy is being built as an addition to the Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre. It is scheduled to open in about four weeks through a partnership between Bruyere and the Rainy Lake Tribal Development Corp.
“I’m hoping they will find a level of care that is satisfactory to them,” Bruyere said. “Not only is it convenient to have a pharmacy there but they do like the care I provide and that just adds to the whole experience for them.”
Couchiching Chief Chuck McPherson said the pharmacy is just one of a number of business projects being undertaken by the Rainy Lake Tribal Development Corp. in partnership with other companies.
“We know what Non-Insured Health Benefits pays out in our area and we deemed it a valuable business,” McPherson said. “We hope to expand on that too — the Sioux Lookout area is a lucrative area for prescription drugs, so we’ll try to capture some of that market if people are receptive to it. We don’t want to limit our boundaries to Fort Frances.”
Tony Marinaro, economic development advisor for Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Services, said Rainy River First Nations community members currently spend a substantial amount of money in the region’s businesses, so the pharmacy is one way the Rainy Lake Tribal Development Corp. can recirculate dollars back into the communities.
“It’s a great opportunity to do one-stop shopping at our health centre,” Marinaro said. “It gives youth an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, when I grow up I could be into this field, I could be a pharmacist, I could be a doctor.’”
The new pharmacy will open directly into the Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre, but it will also have an outdoor entrance. It is designed with a dedicated space for the patient to sit down and talk with the pharmacist about their medication.
“It’s not exclusive to First Nations, if a non-Native person wants to come there and buy his or her prescription drugs, we certainly welcome that,” McPherson said. “It’s a business.”