Garth Watkins was in the Outreach Pharmacy at 55 Victoria Road recently on business for Shaw Cable Systems and came away raving about the extraordinary service Randy Okeley and his staff were offering to their clients most of whom, he told us, looked as if they were “struggling” with life.

“I was blown away by the consideration and caring the staff showed toward their customers,” he exclaimed. “They knew everyone by name and they were constantly offering words of support and encouragement. It wasn’t just a dull business exchange. It was real human interaction.”

With that introduction, I decided to drop by the pharmacy last week to see for myself what Garth was talking about.

It turns out that, although it is a full service pharmacy, half or more of the clients are on a methadone program and most come in seven days a week to get their prescription filled and ingested at the counter. As a result pharmacist/owner, Randy Okeley, the only pharmacist on staff, is there seven days a week too, and he has been since he opened the business seven years ago.

Most of the clients are using methadone as a more positive alternative to or a transition toward getting off drugs such as heroin. To get on the program they must go through an in depth process with a specially trained doctor who in turn must get approval for each case from the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

So why would Randy and his staff choose to work with a clientele that is “struggling” with life, especially those battling addictions?

Randy says he simply enjoys working with people who have committed to moving in a positive direction in their lives and the entire staff seems to have that same passion.

Although they don’t socialize with their customers outside the pharmacy, inside they are all friends, friends who care deeply about one another. When both Garth and I were there, we saw a half dozen or so people sitting around in a somewhat crowded space drinking coffee and chatting with each other and the staff. A sense of support, caring, openness and honesty filled the room.

When I asked Senior Technician, Trish Kambeitz, why she has chosen to work with Randy or the past six years, her answer was short and to the point. First she said, Randy is a great employer and friend and second, she and the rest of the staff love watching those who succeed and then come back a year or two later living a healthy lifestyle having kicked the habit, found a job and got their kids back.

I suspect there aren’t hundreds of those success stories but that a high percentage of the ones with happy endings might not have been if it weren’t for the support offered by Randy Okeley and his staff.

If you know someone who is addicted, tell them about the methadone program just in case they don’t know about it. If you want to know more, I’m sure there are lots of places you could go. If it were me, I’d talk to Randy.