Okotoks among the locations for 44 new Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy care clinics

Okotoks will be getting one of 44 new Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy care clinics planned for 2024.

Last week, Shoppers Drug Mart made a joint announcement with the provincial government that their pharmacy care clinic network was to expand, and that the $77 million investment would significantly increase Albertans' access to primary care.

Their parent company Loblaws sent out a media release the same day, listing a few of the planned locations, which include Okotoks, Sherwood Park, Calgary, Edmonton, Stony Plain and Spruce Grove.

At pharmacy care clinics, prescribing pharmacists can assess patients and treat some minor conditions.

The expansion of Shoppers' clinic network was lauded by the Alberta government as a move that will decrease pressure on hospitals and family doctors.

During last week's announcement, Shoppers Drug Mart President Jeff Leger said the new locations won't all be brand new stores.

"It's a mixture of existing stores that we're renovating, like this one here where we've enhanced and created a new environment where we have three clinic rooms, and then also new stores... We have 25 new locations launching across the country, nine of them are in Alberta. As those stores come onboard, they'll actually be configured in this way to be able to provide these services."

With a second Shopper's Drug Mart location having opened in Okotoks over the summer, it's likely that one of the two existing locations is to be renovated, though that's unconfirmed at this point.

Last summer, High River's Shoppers Drug Mart was renovated to be a pharmacy care clinic.

Once the 44 planned pharmacy care clinics are open, Shoppers Drug Mart's clinic network will have reached 103 locations in Alberta.