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| In 1957, members of the Essex County Pharmacist Association, led by five pharmacists from Windsor, invested a total of $7500 dollars in what would become the first prepaid prescription drug plan in North America. The group was led by Bill Wilkinson and included Kenneth J. Wiley, Jack McGaffey, George Thompson, and Thomas W. Moffat from Amherstburg. These enterprising young men were not motivated by business interests but by what they saw as an unconscionable situation. As Bill Wilkinson said, “To see a mother go without the medicine she herself needs in order to buy a prescription for her sick child is a moving experience. There has to be a better way.” If doctors and hospitals had prepaid medical plans, why couldn’t pharmacists? Initially their plan met with much skepticism and out right rejection, but Bill persevered and in July of 1957, Prescription Services Inc., now Green Shield Canada, was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in Ontario. |
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