The Crofton Pharmacy and Medical Clinic is due to open Monday, Oct. 19.
“We are still waiting for one licensing thing and if that comes through we’ll be open by next Monday,” said Neel Tanna, who’s been the owner of Duncan Pharmacy for the past year and is expanding to a second location.
Related: Pharmacy the right prescription for Crofton’s needs
A pharmacy college license is pending, but Tanna expected that to be a formality.
“Even if we don’t get the license (in time), we’ll still be able to do flu clinics,” he said.
The flu clinic will take place Monday, Oct. 19 and Tuesday, Oct. 20 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and the rest of the week by appointment.
Tanna said everything went well in getting the location at No. 101-8146 Queen St. in the Mews building ready, other than short delays in the construction process and finalizing everything with the Municipality of North Cowichan.
As for the medical clinic, “we don’t have doctors yet,” said Tanna. “The word is out. Hopefully everybody is spreading, but we don’t have anyone yet.”
The location will still offer virtual services since seeing a doctor isn’t possible right now anyway except under extraordinary circumstances due to COVID.
“This is now the new normal – the virtual clinic,” noted Tanna.
Patrons coming into the clinic can be set up on a computer to address their needs.
Once open, the pharmacy’s regular hours will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Building owner Tony van de Mortel of Mortel Development Co. said in a previous interview he was pleased with the agreement to bring a pharmacy to Crofton and had turned down other proposals for the space that he thought wouldn’t be as beneficial for the town.
“I’d been approached for everything under the sun,” he noted. “We held out until we found services that we thought would contribute greatly to this wonderful oceanside community.”
