Three pharmacists Jean-Philippe Bergeron, Théo Quignon, and François-Dominique Scott, have joined forces to become the new owners of the Familiprix in Knowlton. The partners took over the Familiprix, previously owned by pharmacist Jean Raphaël Itoua, in early December 2021 recognizing an opportunity to help people in the area. As newcomers to Brome Lake, Familiprix – J-P Bergeron, F-D Scott et T Quignon is looking forward to making connections with people in the community and to serve them the best, and any way, they can.
Bergeron hails from Quebec City and through his experience as a pharmacist, he realized that serving small communities was an important part of his practice.
“I used to work in Quebec City and I helped my uncle in one of his drug stores in a smaller village and I really liked the way it worked,” said Bergeron. “It’s smaller stores, a smaller number of clients so you get to know your clients, their names, their family, and their history. That’s what I found very interesting and I prefer that kind of practice instead of being in a big drug store where you’re almost like pill distributor.”
Bergeron emphasized that working in smaller communities allows him to be a better pharmacist. “With time you get to know everybody. It’s more interesting, but also you can be a better pharmacist when you know personally your clients. If I know someone prefers natural products or hates synthetic pills, when he comes to talk about this arthritis let’s say, before going for Tylenol I will consider trying turmeric, which is a spice, because it has anti-inflammatory effects and it’s safe.”
After purchasing various other pharmacies in small villages around Quebec City, he found his way to Bedford and discovered the Eastern Townships. “I got to know this part of the province working in Bedford so when I learned there was an opportunity in Lac-Brome I was very interested because I like fishing, skiing, and there two big mountains close to Knowlton,” added Bergeron. “But I needed some help so I built a team with Théo and François.”
Quignon, who is only 23-years-old, and Scott, who Bergeron refers to as a “mad scientist,” both recently graduated from Université de Laval making this a new experience for them. Both worked alongside Bergeron in the past where they developed a strong professional relationship.
“It’s always been a thing I wanted to do was to be an owner of a pharmacy. We had an opportunity with Jean-Philippe in a great area” said Quignon. “It’s a very beautiful region, the Estrie.”
When asked what they want to accomplish in Brome Lake, Bergeron noted the importance of being more involved in the health of their clientele and “being a bridge between them and their doctor.”
“What we would like to do is really show the people the new direction of the pharmacy and not just our pharmacy, but the whole work of pharmacists is changing,” he said. “We want people to know the difference between having a pharmacist distributing pills and having a pharmacist taking care of their health in a larger way. Let’s say someone is diabetic, we don’t want him to come to the pharmacy just to pick up the pills. We want him to come to speak with us about the problems he has with the pills, treatments, or the disease and be a part of the solution.”
“My goal is to help the people as much as I can and to be there for all my patients,” added Quignon. “We have a clinical vision of the pharmacy, we work with the doctors, we change medication, we distribute medication, but we also want be part of the global health care profession.”
Now that they’ve put down roots in the village, they are looking forward to making new connections. “We will be running the pharmacy for a long time and if we have other opportunities, we have a good partnership so we plan to ride along together for a long time,” said Quignon.
