Just in time with the reopening of many medical services around the city, the Moose Jaw Co-op's Hillcrest Pharmacy is now officially open to the public.

Whitney Striha is the manager of the pharmacy and says that the new facility is providing several services that were not previously available to members.

"We have extra facilities like counselling rooms, different consulting rooms, and injection rooms. We have a lot of space really dedicated to our patients which is nice."

In addition, the pharmacy is the first in Saskatchewan to stock human donor breast milk, something which Striha considers to be an essential service for many young families.

"It's something really important especially for patients that have premature babies or babies suffering from certain issues. It's just nice that they can come here on their way home [from the hospital] and pick up some breast milk."

Striha says the idea of providing a donor breast milk service at the pharmacy came to her after the Baby-Friendly Action Committee helped to bring the same program to the Dr. F. H. Wigmore Regional Hospital last year. Since being introduced to the F. H. Wigmore, the program has seen more and more mothers utilizing it and Striha knew that the demand would also be there at the pharmacy.

"I think it's slowly catching on and part of is just better education for moms and families."

During her time sitting on the Baby-Friendly Action Committee, Striha built up her connections with the Calgary based non-profit NorthenStar Mothers Milk Bank which collects, pasteurizes, and distributes breast milk to hospitals and pharmacies. Partnering with Northenstar has allowed the Co-op Pharmacy to keep the program affordable.

"It's not something that we're going to make money off of. All the money essentially goes into pasteurizing the milk and getting it ready for families."

Striha says that everyone who has visited the pharmacy so far has been excited by the new services. Despite not being able to host the grand opening they had planned for, due to the restrictions on gatherings, the pharmacy is tentatively hoping for a larger celebration sometime during August.