If you have worked in pharmacy in Alberta for any length of time, there’s a good chance you know—or know of—pharmacist Brad Willsey from Grande Prairie. Brad has practised in hospital and community settings in Alberta for 33 years.
On October 28, 2024, Brad was named registrar-elect for ACP. He will assume the position of registrar on January 1, 2025, taking over from the retiring registrar Greg Eberhart.
“I was surprised, shocked, and then excited,” said Brad of his reaction when he received the news that he was the successful candidate. “Here I sit today and it’s a bit surreal. I’m still excited.”
Brad knew from a young age that he wanted to work in pharmacy.
“When I was a young kid, I had a job working in the hospital kitchen in Grande Prairie,” said Brad. “I got to interact with a lot of different health professionals. Pharmacy seemed to be a good fit for me.”
Brad began his pharmacy career at Grande Prairie Regional Hospital before moving on to the Royal Alexandra and University of Alberta hospitals in Edmonton. He assumed leadership responsibilities at both facilities. After 10 years in hospital practice, Brad earned his master’s degree in business administration at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, but was drawn back to Alberta where he shifted gears to community pharmacy practice. He and a partner owned a pharmacy that provided innovative services to seniors.
Brad also has experience with pharmacy regulation. While practising as a pharmacist, Brad served a total of 12 years on the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association and Alberta College of Pharmacy Councils, including terms as president for each organization.
“I’ve always been passionate about the profession,” said Brad. “I’m also a believer that if you think that you can improve things, you have to get involved. The first time around with APhA, the largest event at that time was separating the organization into the college and the Alberta Pharmacists’ Association (RxA). It took a lot of work and a lot of convincing that it was the right way to go. With ACP the second time around, the largest piece of work we did was to ban inducements. That also took a lot of persistence to do the right thing.”
Beyond his time on Council, Brad has stayed involved with the college on many levels, including as an assessor for additional prescribing authorization (APA) applications, a member of the Hearing Tribunal pool, and as a contract investigator for the complaints team, just to name three.
Council president Patrick Zachar believes Brad’s depth of experience, from practice to leadership roles to regulation, is what put him over the top in the search for a new ACP registrar.
“It’s imperative the registrar understands the field they regulate,” said Patrick. “You can’t have too narrow of a background and understand all aspects of pharmacy. It’s important to have a broad range of experience to draw from when issues or conversations come about.”
Brad looks forward to working with Greg for the next two months to learn as much about his new role and the organization as possible before taking over the reins on January 1, 2025.
“My first priority is to meet the team, understand their priorities, and learn from them,” said Brad. “I’m going to observe and ask a lot of questions. We are entering the last year of our five-year strategic plan, so there are some strategic priorities that need to be looked after. At the same time, we need to establish a new strategic plan. I anticipate that 2025 is going to be an extremely busy year.”
The thought of following in Greg’s footsteps as registrar is not lost on Brad. He knows he has big shoes to fill.
“It’s overwhelming—I’m not going to lie,” said Brad. “But it also makes you dig deep and say, I’m going to have to be at my best to come even on a par with what Greg’s been doing and to manage expectations. On January 1, I can’t expect to be Greg. That’s not who I’m going to be. But I’m going to use all my skills, continue to learn, and do the best I can for Albertans and the practice of pharmacy.”
Patrick feels Brad is up to the challenge.
“I’m excited to see where we go from here,” said Patrick. “Brad is going to bring new perspectives and new ideas, but he also has that backing of the incredible experience and team that we have in place already at ACP. So, it’s a mix of new ideas with a solid foundation and that can only lead to positive things in the future.”
Finally, Brad is excited to connect with regulated members and looks forward to what can be achieved in pharmacy in Alberta.
“The message I would give to regulated members is keep doing good work and provide the best pharmacy services for Albertans. Know that ACP will do our best to enable excellent practice. If pharmacists and pharmacy technicians continue to deliver exceptional, quality practice, Albertans will benefit—they’re going to get excellent care.”
