UNITED Friendly Societies, or UFS, pharmacy is celebrating a century-and-a-half of seeking to keep Bendigo people healthy.<\/p>\n
First established in 1872, UFS initially provided medical and pharmaceutical services to miners in the region and was the first to open a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week pharmacy in Bendigo.<\/p>\n
CEO Lois O\u2019Callaghan said the not-for-profit hopes to celebrate its history over the coming months.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very proud to be one of the few not-for-profit community pharmacies that still exists,\u201d Ms O\u2019Callaghan said.<\/p>\n
Although well known in the community, Ms O\u2019Callaghan said the brand wanted to draw more attention to their commitment to social responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur priority is to continue to have pharmacists working directly with clients rather than just in the dispensary,<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, working directly with clients to improve health and wellbeing outcomes through the management of their medications,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There are five UFS pharmacies located in Greater Bendigo, including the 24-hour store on View Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat service in particular is very important to the community, what it means is that people can have access to their medications 24 hours a day, seven days a week,\u201d said Ms O\u2019Callaghan.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut aside from that, it\u2019s about what we do as a friendly society,\u201d she said, \u201cany profits that we might make are actually put back into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
UFS also provides an optical service and a vaccination clinic, which Ms O\u2019Callaghan attributed to their friendly society model.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have sort of a broader view in that we\u2019re not just a pharmacy group, we deliver more than just medications into the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
To honour their history, UFS will host events and promotions in store over the coming months.<\/p>\n
Customers are welcome to donate historic items such as old medicine bottles or membership books to be put on display.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED Friendly Societies, or UFS, pharmacy is celebrating a century-and-a-half of seeking to keep Bendigo people healthy. First established in 1872, UFS initially provided medical and pharmaceutical services to miners in the region and was the first to open a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week pharmacy in Bendigo. CEO Lois O\u2019Callaghan said the not-for-profit hopes to celebrate its […]<\/p>\n