Pharmacy

Phone: +61 (03) 5722 5160
Green Street, Wangaratta, VIC 3677
(located on the ground floor near Medical Imaging & Emergency Department)

Monday to Friday  – 8.00am to 4.45pm (24 hour on-call service via NHW After-hours Director of Nursing)
Saturday – 10.00am to 1.00pm
Public Holidays – 10.00am to 2.00pm 

Our Pharmacy staff are here to help you to understand your medications so that you can make the best possible recovery during and after your hospital stay.

Our service has three key priorities:

  • Medication safety by ensuring that you receive or take the right medications, at the right time and at the right dose through education to you and your family, and communication with your community pharmacists with any changes to your medication regime.
  • Cost-effective use of medicines.
  • Delivery of Specialist pharmacy expertise at critical points in your healthcare journey.

We offer a range of services that include:

  • Regular (Monday to Friday) visits by pharmacists while you are in hospital – pharmacists review and dispense your medications and provide education and information
  • Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) dispensing of day-admitted, discharge and outpatient prescriptions
  • Outpatient prescription dispensing including medications on the highly specialised drugs program (Section 100) and Special Access Scheme
  • Provision of Cytotoxic/oncology (cancer) medications and chemotherapy
  • Therapeutic drug monitoring and the appropriate use of antibiotics
  • Mental health services – including clozapine dispensing and monitoring
  • Sterile and non-sterile manufacturing including the availability of parenteral nutrition and other intravenous additives
  • Clinical services in the Emergency Department, Perioperative Care Clinic and Hospital in the Home
  • Liaising with your local community pharmacy at discharge for medication administration devices (eg. Webster packs and dosettes).
  • Dedicated Pharmacist Clinical Educator
  • Involvement in Clinical Trials
  • Covid-19 testing and vaccination clinic
  • Education and training of under-graduate and post-graduate pharmacy staff and students from various Universities
  • Region-wide integrated pharmacy intern training and education program

To help us make sure the medicines prescribed for you whilst in hospital are correct, please remember to bring with you;

  • A current medication list
  • All medications are in original packaging. Include inhalers, patches, eye drops, vitamins, insulin
  • Allergy information

For the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will also need to provide;

  • Medicare card
  • Healthcare card/pension card, if applicable
  • Private health card, DVA card, if applicable
  • Safety Net Card, if applicable

for a full list of what to bring with you to hospital please visit – Preparing for hospital and what to bring with you.

Before you leave hospital you will receive a complete list of your medications including information leaflets on each medication (if required), so that you have a good understanding of what you are taking and why. Your current GP will also receive up-to-date information about your hospital treatment and a complete medication list.

Did you know…

  • You can now receive up to one-month supply of PBS medication on discharge from hospital or when you attend as an outpatient.
  • Purchasing your medications at Northeast Health will cost about the same as your local pharmacy
  • Your prescription can be ready for you upon leaving the hospital, so you don’t have to wait
  • Payment is easy, you receive an invoice when you pick-up your medication and pay at the main reception as you leave hospital.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)

At Northeast Health, PBS prescriptions are dispensed for hospital patients for outpatients, day admitted patients and on discharge. This means if you are discharged, or when visiting Northeast Health for an outpatient clinic you can receive up to a month’s supply of medications just as you do at your local pharmacy, you will pay the PBS co-payment set by the Australian Government.

The Safety Net Scheme also applies when you receive dispensed PBS medication from this hospital. This scheme allows non-PBS items dispensed at Northeast Health to be added to your Safety Net card up to the co-payment amount.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Close the Gap processes for medication availability and subsidy under the PBS are not available from any public hospital pharmacy. Eligible prescriptions should be taken to a registered GP for transcription and then dispensed in community Pharmacy. Our pharmacists can assist with this process.

For more information on the PBS and the Safety Net, phone Northeast Health’s pharmacy on (03) 5722 5160. You can also find information about the PBS from the Department of Human Services via:

University placements

Northeast Health Pharmacy department accepts under-graduate pharmacy students on official university placements from multiple universities, including Monash, LaTrobe, RMIT, University of Canberra and Charles Sturt. These placements are course related and can be for one up to four weeks.

In addition, there are opportunities for students to complete a 4-week summer placement at Northeast Health. Two positions are available annually and can be applied for via the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) application processes.

Intern Pharmacists placements

Northeast Health Pharmacy department offers three intern positions at Wangaratta and a partnered intern position with our pharmacy colleagues at Benalla Health. NHW Pharmacy Department also leads regional online gatherings of pharmacy interns and preceptors from Goulburn Valley Health (Shepparton), Echuca Regional Health, Benalla Health and Albury Wodonga Health, linking interns with their peers across the region for case based discussion and mock exams.

Our intern program provides interns with a ward load, having responsibilities in our Maternity, Day Stay and Dialysis Units, and training rotations into General Medical, Surgical, Critical Care (including coronary care, intensive care and high dependency), Inpatient Mental Health, Rehabilitation and Geriatric Evaluation, Paediatrics, Emergency, Hospital in the Home, Dispensary, Day Oncology, Operating Theatres, Perioperative Care Clinic, and Medication Safety and Antimicrobial Stewardship. Weekly tutorials cover therapeutics and primary care, with the opportunity to visit our Pathology Laboratory and Medical Imaging Department, as well as regional rotations to Yarrawonga, Beechworth and Benalla.

Explore our:

For more information regarding these positions, please contact the Pharmacy department and ask for our student and intern coordinators/preceptors.

Hear from some of our 2024 interns and pharmacists