Merimbula pharmacist awarded Pharmacist of the Year!

NSW South Coast pharmacist and pharmacy owner, Linda Badewtiz-Dodd, has claimed the prestigious PSA Symbion Pharmacist of the Year honour for 2021. 

 

This evening at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Viatris Excellence Awards, the Merimbula-based pharmacist was recognised as an exemplar of the Australian pharmacy profession.

 

Linda is a shining example of a community pharmacist and pharmacy owner excelling in patient care, innovative professional practice, and community service. Her Merimbula pharmacy provides a wide range of services, including medication reviews, sleep apnoea services, and vaccinations to name just a few. Linda and her practice go above and beyond for their local community, providing high quality care and personalised support. 

 

Her strong community spirit and devotion to serving the Merimbula community was evidenced during the 2019 bushfires, when Linda provided emergency support to the town while her own home was under threat. During the crisis, Linda’s efforts supported the residents of nearby evacuated towns on the South Coast, including Eden and Bermagui, by mobilising face masks and essential medicines from Canberra. She continues to demonstrate her care for the community through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

Upon receiving the award, Ms Badewitz-Dodd said. “I’m just a pharmacist doing my thing, for my community and my customers – that’s what I do and that what a pharmacist is.

 

“We need, as a profession, to all step up. We need to all be providing a service that is part of an integrated healthcare model. Collaborating with other health professional and other allied health professionals is where we need to be if want to stay in this space.”

 

PSA National President, A/Prof Chris Freeman, said: “Linda exemplifies the extraordinary lengths that pharmacists have gone to ensure the public continued to have access to healthcare when they needed it the most. Linda puts the community first in everything she does, and I know, she will not let anything get in the way of that.

 

Chief Executive of Symbion, Brett Barons, said: “Symbion were very closely involved with many pharmacists impacted by the 2019 bushfires so we saw first-hand what Linda and her community experienced during that terrible time. It is wonderful that her service to her customers and the community spirit she clearly instils in Merimbula has been recognised with her being awarded the Symbion Pharmacist of the Year Award.”

 

Congratulations to Linda, the 2021 Pharmacist of the Year!

 

 

Media contact: PSA media 0424 777 463