​​As of April 1, 2024,​ grants are available to support First Nations communities and organizations with pharmacy-related initiatives. Learn more about the grants and how to apply below!

The FNHA is supporting the link between First Nations health service organizations and pharmacy services with Pharmacy Care Initiative Grants. Pharmacists work directly with Clients to help manage and optimize medication therapy, and also provide a number of other clinical pharmacy services, such as prescribing for minor ailments, over-the-counter medication recommendations, vaccinations, and smoking cessation programming. Working closely with your local pharmacist is an important part of the health and wellness journey.

Community-based grant programs are a well-established way to provide flexible funding to First Nations communities and organizations situated both in community and in urban centres. The Pharmacy Care Initiative grant is intended to support collaboration between pharmacies and First Nations communities/organizations. Grant funding can be used to host events or develop processes that facilitate access to clinical pharmacy services, medication coverage, enhanced wrap-around care for community opioid agonist therapy (OAT) programming, or other pharmacy-related initiatives identified as important by the community/organization.  

First Nations communities and First Nations organizations that are engaged in direct health service delivery to First Nations people in BC are eligible to apply for the grant from April 1-December 31, 2024. You can learn more about grant eligibility and how to apply here.

Previous applicants of the Pharmacy Care Initiative Grant provided some great comments about the benefits they're seeing:

• Community members are becoming comfortable to ask questions and seek recommendations from pharmacy professionals.
• The Pharmacist provided education sessions in community to help community members better understand their medical conditions and medications.
• A new pharmacy is providing a service that was not available within the community before.
• Members are gaining more knowledge about First Nations Health Benefits coverage, and the Pharmacist is working with Clients to ensure access to that coverage.

If your community/organization is interested in collaborating with a local pharmacy, please see this link for full information.

Contact HealthyMedicationUse@fnha.ca