The countdown has begun to opening day of the first pharmacy in Villa Mininco. Area residents will no longer have to go to Angol or Collipulli to buy medicine.
The green light was issued this Friday for launching the first and much-anticipated pharmacy in the town of Mininco in the Araucanía Region. It will open for business in September and offer a range of items from prescription drugs to natural products, veterinary merchandise and perfumes.
One village resident said, “All of us who live in the area have hoped to have a pharmacy close by for a while now.”
The opening hours of the first pharmacy in Villa Mininco, a town in the commune of Collipulli in the Araucanía Region of Chile, will run from Monday to Friday between 9:00 AM and 5:30 PM. Up until now, townspeople here had to go to Angol or Collipulli, other districts in the Araucanía Region of Chile, to stock up on medicine, personal hygiene products and other items. This will be a thing of the past when the pharmacy opens its doors to the public in the near future.
Its design is based on a modular construction of 29.5 square meters, expected to be operational in just another month. It will offer two cash registers for accepting payment and have a warehouse, two offices, a restroom and a waiting room. It is located in front of the town’s main square.
Villa Mininco resident Judith Leiva said, “We have always wanted a pharmacy here. It is truly necessary because there are many sick people who need medicine that are on a tight budget. It isn’t always so simple to just go to any pharmacy and buy what we need. All of my neighbors here have been wanting one for a long time.”
Villa Mininco tripartite committee coordinator Rodrigo Milchío agrees, stating, “This is a historic moment. Having a pharmacy here in town was viewed as a distant thing in the future, but now it is here. That is why I want to thank both the municipality and CMPC, the two main players in making this dream come true for Villa Mininco. We are all extremely pleased.”
Available Services
The new pharmacy will offer a range of items from prescription and non-prescription drugs to natural products, veterinary merchandise, perfumes and more. It will also sell generic, chronic, and bioequivalent medications, as well as those covered under the Cenabast Law. Another 8,000 products will be just a few clicks away. How? Online at fraccion.cl. These products can be purchased by consumers with a maximum delivery time of 72 hours. This means the community of Villa Mininco will have two mechanisms for acquiring all kinds of supplies, whether for animal or human use.
Founder and executive director of Fracción pharmacy Javier Vera said, “This pharmacy was created in 2018 due to the significant gap in access to medicines, not only in terms of location, but regarding prices as well. This public-private project makes it possible for us to set up this pharmacy in Villa Mininco, thanks to the support of the municipality and CMPC. More than an economic impact, it will make a social impact,” said the executive director.
A need that required collaborative partnerships
CMPC explained that the future opening of the pharmacy is part of a plan that the company is promoting to generate a positive impact in the communities where it operates through public-private collaborative models that will bring greater well-being for everyone, as explained by CMPC Corporate Affairs Manager Guillermo Turner.
“At the tripartite round table five or six months ago, we discussed the challenges to achieving a better quality of life in the Villa. Residents made it clear that they needed a pharmacy since they would always have to leave the local area to buy medicine. I want to mention how organized the community has been, bringing its interests the forefront to seek solutions that are sustainable. This new facility will change the lives of everyone in Villa Mininco”, said Turner.
Collipulli Mayor Manuel Macaya said this project will have a significant social impact on the whole town. “This is the first local pharmacy in our area, for which I thank the tripartite roundtable, which is where this matter first came up. I also thank CMPC for taking on this great challenge. After three months of working together, today we’re inaugurating a new pharmacy that will boost local development and be fully operational a month from now.
In September, residents of Villa Mininco and the surrounding communities, such as the families on Route 22, will have access to a service that will have a positive impact on their quality of life.
