A pharmacy is the latest addition to the University of Guelph's University Centre following a series of renovations to the building.
Srdjan Sucevic and his proposal for the UC pharmacy were selected by the UC Board and administration team after considering other local and national options.
“At the end of the day we had four pharmacists submit proposals, two of them were chains national and provincial, and two were local,” said Philip John, Acting Director and Business Manager at the University Centre. “[Sucevic] came up with the highest rate per square [foot] and he also threw in [a] scholarship proposal.”
Based on the amount of annual revenue that is made by the UC pharmacy, a new scholarship fund with up to $25,000 will be available to students. The criteria for deciding who will be eligible for the upcoming scholarship(s) is in the works.
For pharmacist Katalin Lanczi, it’s not her first time working in the UC. Until 1998 the UC hosted a pharmacy where the first-floor lounge is and in 1984 Lanczi had her first job in Canada there as a pharmacy student.
“I started here in 1984 as a refugee from communist Hungary,” said Lanczi. “I worked for four months as a student and then I moved over to a bigger pharmacy, a corporation as an intern.”
In her 30 years away from the U of G, Lanczi has worked, studied and traveled in Japan, Taiwan, Europe and the United States. Lanczi has returned to the UC to work there part-time but also has an established career as a health and wellness guidance pharmacist.
“The students mostly didn’t come to the [University] Centre, it was mostly the professors,” said Lanczi. “I think students [now] are much more interested in studying and taking their future into their own hands.”
Pharmacy owner Srdjan Sucevic immigrated to Canada from former Yugoslavia and his first job in Canada was as a pharmacy student working under Lanczi’s supervision. Sucevic is a proud Guelph local and is looking forward to his daughters possibly attending U of G in the next couple of years, he said.
The UC Pharmacy grand opening is on January 8.
