Pharmacy retailer Chemist Warehouse has joined forces with AFR Rich Listers Stuart Giles and Cathie Reid to form a new joint venture, Chemist Warehouse Hospital Pharmacy.
Hospital pharmacies dispense more complex and expensive medicines than community chemists. The sector has already attracted the interest of groups such as ASX-listed Ramsay Health Care, the AFR points out.
This new Chemist Warehouse venture is designed to have a strong focus on patient care and affordability, in addition to technology enabled service delivery.
A Chemist Warehouse spokesperson said “This closes the loop around providing all aspects of pharmacy service delivery to patients, and offering exceptional value for money. In addition, the joint venture will produce employment opportunities for pharmacists and pharmacy assistants, and enable our highly sought after trainee program to operate in the hospital pharmacy environment.”
Chemist Warehouse’s network of extended hour community pharmacies is also well-placed to continue patient care post hospital discharge.
Cathie Reid said “Chemist Warehouse has achieved extraordinary growth in community pharmacy, with an accompanying consistent consumer experience. One of the key drivers has been their highly disciplined approach to systems, processes and training.
“We think this expertise will translate extremely well into the provision of high-quality pharmacy services to hospitals and their patients.”
The AFR reports Reid and Giles sold most of their Epic Pharmacy outlets in Victoria and Queensland to Chemist Warehouse in the early 2000s.
The couple is reportedly worth $550 million, according to the AFR. The couple entered the Rich List in 2020 after selling shares in the cancer care business Icon Group.
Reid told the AFR the new venture is starting in, but not limited to, Australia. “Chemist Warehouse has stores overseas. Looking at the Chemist Warehouse track record, they don’t go into anything with a view of being passive in it. They’re in the business of being category killers,” she said.
It has been a busy 2023 so far for Chemist Warehouse which unveiled its disruptive optometry model in February. The chain also opened its 500th store, and expanded its Fast Pharmacy delivery program.
This story was originally published on Franchise Executives.
