Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Greg Becotte’s pharmacy journey has led him across Ontario, to the interior of British Columbia and, most recently, to the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver.
Where they're working
Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood notorious for its high rates of poverty, mental illness, crime, and infectious disease. As a pharmacist who works in this area at the Pier Health Resource Center, Greg plays a pivotal role in providing pharmacy services to those with mental illness and substance use issues.
Pier Health’s employees ensure access to healthcare services for the neighbourhood and provide outreach treatment to the 1500 sheltered and homeless residents and the 3500 residents who live in local hotels, some owned by the province and operated as supportive housing. Healthcare delivery and neighbourhood support are what they specialize in, and in an area like the DTES, the services are in high demand.
Greg looking down on farmland around Armstrong, in the BC interior.
Back when he worked in community practice in the remote British Columbia interior, Greg remembers spending countless hours with diabetic patients, trying to help them understand the importance of regular exercise. The work was sometimes repetitive and most of his counselling involved treatment of chronic diseases that stemmed from poor lifestyle choices.
Then, a patient showed up who was starting methadone (a drug used to help managed opioid addiction) for the first time.“I saw him daily and began to learn little pieces of his struggle,” Greg explains. “Here was this man who went through an absolutely nightmare of an opioid addiction. He’d gone through things I can’t even imagine before getting himself to his doctor to admit he had a problem.”
"For the first time in a while,” Greg says, reflecting back to that patient. “I felt like I was seeing measurable progress in a patient."
That rewarding feeling led to Greg’s increasing interest in treatment of addiction and associated mental health disorders. And it was that interest that led him to Pier Health, a clinic in the heart of downtown Vancouver.
Though he’s still not impressed with the amount of rain Vancouver gets in the winter, at Pier Health Greg’s able to work on an interdisciplinary team that provides care to those who need it most.
Opioid addiction is a growing health crisis, especially in urban centers like Vancouver. Greg’s played a direct role in providing tools like naloxone, the temporary antidote to opioid overdose, to his patients. Recently, he saved a woman’s life administering naloxone while on the job at Pier Health.
Alumni Answers:
UW: What are some of the biggest challenges you face dealing with patients with substance use or mental health issues?
GB: My practice now can be quite draining mentally and emotionally. I have been spat on, splattered with hot coffee, had death threats, and called every horrible insult you can think of. In my line of work, I cannot take these things personally. My patients lead a hard life, and on the street that is how things are dealt with. Becoming “burned out” is a very real concern for our staff.
UW: You’ve spent time working in rural communities both in BC and Ontario. What are some of struggles of working in that setting?
Access to health care is a major issue, as it is in most rural areas of Canada. The health care center in nearby Enderby has difficulties keeping doctors beyond 1-2 years. Armstrong has one clinic with 5 amazing physicians, but their rosters are maxed out. This leaves most patients having to travel to bigger city centres like Vernon (15 minutes away), Salmon Arm (45 minutes), or Kelowna (1 hour).
Non-Pharm Fun
I also have gotten into multi-day hikes and backpacking trips into the BC wilderness. No serious bear encounters (yet). Since moving to BC, I would consider myself more of a skier and mountain biker than a pharmacist. My life is far more balanced and healthy than it was when I was working 50-60 hour weeks in Ontario."