GORE BAY—One of the reasons Chris Moyer, the new pharmacist at Robertson’s I.D.A. Pharmacy in Gore Bay decided to become a pharmacist in the first place is that he is following in the footsteps of his great grandfather.
“One of my main motivations to be a pharmacist was my great grandfather, Herbert-George James, one of the youngest graduates of the pharmacy program at the University of Toronto almost 100 years ago,” Mr. Moyer explained in an interview with the Recorder last week. “He had passed on before I was born. But my grandmother spoke a lot about him.”
Mr. Moyer, who was born and raised in Pickering, just east of Toronto, is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto Doctor of Pharmacy program, “having graduated in May, and being licenced about a week before I started here.”
He explained, “I’ve always liked the idea of living and working in a small town. And I was hired by a group who own a few pharmacies in Northern Ontario. One of the owners had approached me about an opportunity on the Island and I came here for a couple of weeks to fill-in and I got along very well with the patients and staff.”
“I can’t believe how beautiful the Island is,” said Mr. Moyer, who started at the local pharmacy July 16. He noted former pharmacist Carol Robertson, “has been so great since I got here, helping me to get into the flow of things and meeting patients and staff. It would have been a lot harder without Carol staying on to help provide me some direction.”
“I’ve been here basically three months on a full-time basis,” said Mr. Moyer.
“I’m living in town, in an apartment behind the pharmacy,” Mr. Moyer told the Recorder. “It’s a short walk to the arena,” he said, listing hockey among his hobbies, including hunting, camping and travelling. “I have a girlfriend back home, she is attending school at the University of Waterloo,” he said.
“I had never been to the Island before coming here earlier this summer. It’s a great place to live and work,” he said. “I was drawn to the Island for the beautiful scenery and slower pace, along with the increased opportunity to grow as a pharmacist. I’m looking forward to serving the community.”
