A ferry to the pharmacy: new documentary features pharmacist with a unique commute

A new documentary focusing on mobile workers features Kara O’Keefe, a pharmacist who works on Bell Island in Newfoundland. Bell Island is located in Conception Bay, and O’Keefe runs the pharmacy that serves the community’s 2,500 residents. She lives in St. John’s. To get to work, O’Keefe drives from St. John’s to the Portugal Cove ferry terminal and then takes the ferry over. The drive takes half an hour, the ferry takes 20 minutes, but the ferry’s schedule is often disrupted by weather and bad seas. If it is too windy, the ferry can’t dock properly so it can’t run. If O’Keefe can’t get over to the island, it affects her patients. For example, sometimes she brings people’s chemotherapy with her, and it means their treatment could be delayed. Her daily routine—and its frustrations—is featured in a new 45-minute documentary that is part of CBC’s Absolutely Canadian series. Called Set in Motion, it focuses on three Newfoundland women in the mobile workforce: O’Keefe; a truck driver; and a worker at a mine in Northern Labrador. O’Keefe became involved with the documentary when the CBC was looking for people who commute for work, and specifically people who commute using the Bell Island ferry. A local resident mentioned O’Keefe’s name and the producers contacted her. “My hope was that I could convey to people how important it is that small communities have access to a pharmacist and the positive impact that it can have on healthcare in communities when you add a consistent and committed pharmacist working there and the health impacts that can have,” she said. Read: Canada's changing pharmacy landscape O’Keefe’s parents grew up on Bell Island and her father bought the community pharmacy when he was 23 years old. She began working for him when she graduated from Memorial University five years ago. She’s the first female pharmacist in charge of running the pharmacy, a change that took some community members time to adjust to, she said. Her father still practices at the pharmacy some days, and another pharmacist travels from St. John’s to work certain shifts. She knows other pharmacists who commute to serve small communities. One friend works alternate weeks in central Newfoundland, but lives in St. John’s. “She contributes a lot to healthcare in that particular region,” O’Keefe said. Other pharmacists may work alternate weeks or do short-term contracts in Labrador. There are issues with retention of healthcare professionals in rural Newfoundland, particularly physicians. Pharmacists tend to work in the small communities for their whole careers, while physicians may rotate every two or three years. “I think we are undervalued in the province,” O’Keefe said. The provincial government recently introduced a plan designed to improve access to primary care. “There was no mention of pharmacists at all, which is very frustrating,” she said. With pharmacists already in small communities, they could help lift some of the burden off the healthcare system if they had an expanded scope of practice, she said. “It would have a huge impact on healthcare if we just allowed pharmacists to practice how they were trained,” O’Keefe said. Read: Financial support for new FPs: Newfoundland and Labrador announce initiatives to enhance primary care Much of the documentary focuses on the mobile work aspect of O’Keefe’s job. Filmmaker Lian Morrison was with her for three days: one to film O’Keefe’s morning preparation, one to film the ferry ride and time in the pharmacy, and another day filming what O’Keefe enjoys doing in her spare time: photography and meeting with friends. Her patients were happy to see someone bring light to the struggles of taking the ferry every day to get to work. People from St. John’s were surprised about how hard it was for her to get to work. “I think that it makes people more appreciative of what it is that you’re doing to provide healthcare to a small community,” O’Keefe said. “I think as pharmacists we are underrepresented in the media. We often hear about physicians and nurses and I think sometimes we take the backburner so I was happy to give a voice to pharmacists and put a spotlight on that,” O’Keefe said. The documentary is available to stream for free on CBC Gem. Read: A different kind of flu shot season starts in pharmacies across Canada

A ferry to the pharmacy: new documentary features pharmacist with a unique commute

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