Evidently the Downtown Eastside section of Vancouver can be a scary place. Women visiting pharmacies in the local area often have to wait on line outside and then have to speak with pharmacists through security glass.
"They're, I think, quite hostile places and women don't feel safe," Caryn Duncan, executive director of the Vancouver Women's Health Collective, told the Vancouver Courier.
Seeing this situation is what gave Ms. Duncan the idea for creating a women's-only pharmacy that will become a reality today as Lu's: A Pharmacy for Women opens for business.
Lu's will have a pharmacist on hand to take care of local women sans the protective barrier. The business also plans to offer a space for local women's health groups and also a nurse practitioner to operate an in-store clinic.
"Women are walking distances to have prescriptions filled and we're hoping that they will think to come to Lu's," said Ms. Duncan.
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the potential for women's-only pharmacies? Are there other exclusive types of formats that you think would work without offending other segments?
[Editor's Note] Some men took issue with what they perceived as the discriminatory nature of a women's only pharmacy. See the the thread following the Vancouver Courier piece.