Rebecca Mckillican

President and CEO, Mckesson Canada

It enTHE CANADIAN PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY CHAIN IS ‘ALWAYS ON.’ tails a complex network of manufacturers, logistics providers and cold chain protectors spanning dozens of countries and regulatory environments on a daily — often hourly — basis. When COVID-19 hit, there was no playbook to follow. It affected all of our distribution centres, pharmacies, partner hospitals, doctor’s offices and clinics at the same time, for months on end. As a frontline healthcare provider, we couldn’t shut down our operations. Thousands of employees across the country continued to deliver life-saving products to hospitals and pharmacies. We placed health and safety at the centre of everything we did. This included rolling out an enhanced employee support program with financial, social and healthcare support.

The pharmaceutical supply chain is truly global, which posed its own set of challenges. Countries such as India, China and others that export ingredients used for common pharmaceutical products were in various states of lockdown and halted their exports over fears about caring for their own citizens. We needed to remain calm and discourage hoarding by our customers. On March 18, 2020, we issued the first of what became a daily customer update. Our message was that everyone needed to stick to their regular ordering patterns, for the sake of all Canadians. Imagine telling hospital staff that their ordering behaviour is going to be monitored and scaled back if unusual activity is observed. People were not happy, but it had to be done. For us, the pandemic was a baptism by fire. It made us stronger. It made us braver. But most importantly, it made us more human.