Julie Kinleyside celebrates 40 years of working at the Harden Pharmacy on 13 March. This week, owner Mark Douglass said of Julie, “What can I say, she’s been here 40 years and knows and loves her job. She’s very good at her job, her customers love her, they trust her and are very comfortable with her.”
Julie said that when she commenced working at the Pharmacy in 1974 pensioners got their prescriptions free of charge, the chemist worked behind a high counter and everything was wrapped in brown paper (no bags); if the parcel was too big, string was used to secure it.
Generic brands were used and antibiotics and beta blockers were counted out of a large container. Scripts were all hand-written into a huge ledger. Chemists were like apothecaries and mixed a lot of their medicines. Over the years the number of drugs has increased to currently 4,500 under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
The chemist was an agent for health funds MBF and HCF and after patients visited the doctor they could claim their refund.
Julie is trained in cosmetics, vitamins and in operations for front-of-shop. Julie has taken very little sick leave, and has really only had time off to have her 2 daughters, Sharna and Ashleigh, who also have both worked at the Harden Pharmacy.
Ashleigh is currently studying Psychology at Uni, and Sharna is studying “yes, you’ve guessed it” Pharmacy, while continuing to work in a pharmacy at Young. Another ex-employee, Brogan Friend, is in her 3rd year of Pharmacy.
Julie said, “It doesn’t seem like 40 years – I’m a people person and my customers are like an extended family; I laugh and cry with them. Many who were young when I started have now grown up, married and now I’m serving their kids. I assist with cosmetics, vitamins, baby care, hair care etcetera, and I just love what I do.”
Mark said, “Julie is a great asset and very good to work with.”
Congratulations Julie, on your 40 years of very ably assisting the many customers of the Harden Pharmacy.
