TORONTO — The Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada, formerly known as the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (CACDS) has announced the keynote speakers and agenda highlights for its Annual Conference next month.

Denise Carpenter

Neighbourhood Pharmacies said late Tuesday that the event, dubbed “Game Changers,” will be held May 11 to 14 in Quebec City and build on the success of  CACDS’ “In the Business of Care” From CACDS Vancouver to Neighbourhood Pharmacies Quebec City, held in Vancouver last May.

“Game Changers has been designed to help pharmacy owners and operators recognize and adapt to the opportunities presented by the evolving pharmacy business model in this country,” Neighbourhood Pharmacies president and chief executive officer Denise Carpenter said in a statement. “The focus of our conference is to enable our members, our associates and the other participants in retail pharmacy to develop strategies to maintain their momentum and build their success in a changing business environment, where the emphasis will increasingly be on patient services.

“Medication expertise will always be the core of pharmacy, but that expertise will be applied in new and different ways that call for a different kind of thinking,” Carpenter added.

New at the Annual Conference this year is the Neighbourhood Pharmacies’ Town Hall, to be held on May 11. The Town Hall will enable all attendees to hear from association board members on how leading retailers see the state of the industry and the trends, issues and opportunities they expect to emerge.

Also making its debut at this year’s conference will be the New Pharmacy Expo, a full day of professional development and continuing education for pharmacy owners and operators on May 14. The New Pharmacy program will show attendees how they can use their medication expertise to interact effectively with patients outside the dispensary, Neighbourhood Pharmacies said.

Pharmacy and front-of-store keynotes will be delivered on May 12 and 13, including from Dr. Michael Law on “Community Pharmacy and Pharmacare: For-Patient or For-Profit?”; Vicki Wood, editor for Rogers Healthcare, on “The Pharmacist’s Influence in Self-Care”; Mike Boivin, a clinical pharmacist and president of CommPharm Consulting, and Justin Bates, vice president of pharmacy and professional Affairs for Neighbourhood Pharmacies on “Selling Yourself and Your Pharmacy to Improve Patient Care”; and Vincent van der Heijden, director of client services, on “Advantage International Insights from the 2015 Advantage Mirror Report.”

There will also be a retail keynote on May 14 from Lee Peterson of WD Partners on “The Next Killer App: Stores.” Also that day, Carpenter and Jean Bourcier, executive vice president and general manager for AQPP, will lead a panel discussion on the future of pharmacy in Canada, titled, “Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel? Government Changes Across the Country and the Impact on the Business of Pharmacy.”

More than 20 retail groups will be represented at the conference this year, including  Calgary Co-Operative Association, Costco Wholesale Canada, Forewest Holdings, Guardian Pharmacies (McKesson Canada), IDA Pharmacies (McKesson Canada), Lawtons Drugs, London Drugs, Lovell Drugs, Medical Pharmacies Group, Medicine Shoppe Pharmacies Canada, Metro Ontario, OnPharm, Overwaitea Food Group, Pharmasave Drugs, Proxim (McKesson Canada), Safeway Operations-Sobeys West, Sobeys Pharmacy Group, Remedy’sRx (McKesson Canada), Remedy Holdings, Rexall, Uniprix and Wal-Mart Canada.