According to pharmacist and compounding specialist Henin, rural healthcare in Canada is quietly nearing a breaking point. With prescription drug shortages on the rise and access to specialists lagging behind urban centres, Marline Henin argues that compounding pharmacies are no longer just helpful but essential.
“Too often, rural patients are treated as an afterthought,” Marline Henin explains. “They wait longer for care, travel farther for specialists, and now face regular disruptions in their medication supply due to shortages that disproportionately affect smaller communities.”
Health Canada reported over 2,700 drug shortages between 2022 and 2023, many of which left rural pharmacies unable to provide essential medications. For pharmacists like Marline Henin, who practices in Gravenhurst, Ontario, these shortages are not just logistical hurdles but human problems.
“In a small town, when a medication isn’t available, it doesn’t just inconvenience someone,” she says. “It can mean weeks of untreated symptoms, unmanaged conditions, and worsening outcomes.”
That’s where compounding steps in. Compounding allows pharmacists to prepare custom medications from raw ingredients, tailored to individual needs. It can be as simple as converting a tablet into a liquid for a child or as complex as replicating a discontinued medication when no commercial alternative exists.
Marline Henin, who completed her non-sterile compounding certification in 2023, views the practice as necessary to close the care gap for rural Canadians.
“Compounding gives us a way to say ‘yes’ when the rest of the system says ‘no,’” she adds. “It’s not about creating something exotic, it’s about making healthcare work for people who’ve been left out of traditional models.”
Physician shortages further complicate the picture. While 18% of Canadians live in rural areas, only 8% of physicians serve those regions. For many communities, seeing a doctor is a privilege, not a guarantee.
In response to these shortages, Henin founded Gravenhurst Medical, a multidisciplinary clinic in the heart of her town. The clinic offers a walk-in doctor, pharmacist, nurse, chiropractor, and diabetes educator. It also partners with the Georgian Bay Clinic to provide virtual addiction treatment through four remote physicians.
“We built the clinic not because it was a business opportunity, but because our community needed it,” Henin explains. “We couldn’t wait for help to arrive. We had to create the solution ourselves.”
Marline Henin believes that while long-term healthcare reform is essential, immediate grassroots responses, like compounding and pharmacist-led clinics, can bridge the gap.
“This isn’t about replacing doctors or hospitals,” she clarifies. “It’s about extending care when and where it’s needed most. Pharmacists are often the most accessible healthcare professionals in rural communities, and we have the training to do more.”
Despite its benefits, compounding is still underutilized and under-supported in Canada. Henin emphasizes the need for greater investment in training, regulation, and public awareness to make compounding a normalized, respected element of frontline care.
“We should not think of compounding as a luxury or a last resort,” Henin states. “In rural healthcare, it’s a first-line defense.”
Marline Henin is not calling for drastic overhauls, but for recognition: the tools already in place, community pharmacists, expanded scopes of practice, and compounding, can have an outsized impact if properly supported.
“Health equity means more than just equal access to hospitals,” she adds. “It means empowering local healthcare providers to act when systems fail.”
Her message is clear: Canada cannot afford to let rural communities slip through the cracks. And while policymakers work on broader reforms, pharmacists are ready to fill in the gaps, one personalized prescription at a time.