HIP Castle Hill officially reopened
as a new HIP pharmacy opens its doors in country Victoria
On Monday 10th March Michael Richardson, NSW State Member for Castle Hill, officially declared the newly rebranded HIP Castle Hill open for business.
HIP Castle Hill - owned by Health Information Pharmacy founder and CEO Ken Lee - was the first HIP pharmacy in Australia when the brand was launched in 2002. As we reported in the last UPdate, HIP Castle Hill has undergone a complete refurbishment and conversion to the new HIP look. In his opening speech Michael Richardson made particular reference to HIP's own weight management program, Health-e-Weight,
"...the thing that impresses me the most is the weight management centre, because obesity will probably be the greatest cause of health problems in the future for Australia. I understand the number of obese people has actually increased by something like 50% in the last 15-20 years, which is really appalling - an indictment of the way we live."
He also made his views clear on pharmacies in supermarkets: "It's impossible for Coles, Woolies or Aldi to be providing the sort of healthcare advice that an independent pharmacy can provide ...throughput is everything (for the supermarket chains) it's not providing specialised advice ... so you don't actually have a chance to deal with those problems where throughput is everything."
As HIP's first pharmacy gets a facelift, another HIP has just opened in Rushworth, Victoria, 166 kilometres north of Melbourne. Rushworth is an old goldmining town, which, according to one theory was named by one of the town's gold commissioners Richard Horne (a friend of Charles Dickens) as it was worth "rushing to" during the goldrush.
New owner Lawrence Nguyen said "Rushworth is a great opportunity to bring the HIP model to country Victoria and give residents of the Rushworth area access to our high level of care, including the Chemconsult consultation system, the Platinum Care Club 24 hour pharmacist hotline and our weight control program, Health-e Weight."
HIP Rushworth is the seventh HIP to open in Victoria.
02.04.08
