Your Specialized Pharmacy for Customized Care
As the first NAPRA Certified Sterile Compounding Pharmacy in Newfoundland and Labrador, Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab is a local innovation leader, offering compounding services and solutions to meet provincial and federal sterile compounding requirements right here in our province. Our pharmacy team also has over 100 years combined experience in non-sterile compounding. We are licensed through the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board (NLPB). Our facility opened in the fall of 2019 to service the sterile compounding needs of our clients and we have expended to include non-sterile compounding services. All while our co-owners have owned and operated pharmacies for a combined 30+ years.
We are the first NAPRA certified sterile compounding pharmacy with both hazardous and non-hazardous clean room in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab was co-founded by pharmacist Karen Francis and business owner Todd Gatehouse, with the goal of meeting specialty pharmacy and sterile compounding needs right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. We serve those who are seeing specialty pharmacy services, sterile and non-sterile compound medicines, pharmacist consultations, central fill services, and cold chain medication services.
Our facility is NAPRA certified and has both a hazardous clean room and a non-hazardous clean room as well as a Level A/B room and Level C room for non-sterile compounding.
What is Compounded Medication?
Compounded medications are customized to patient and prescriber needs and are not available through manufacturers. Compounding is an art of combining, mixing or altering ingredients to create a tailored medication. This is completed once our pharmacists have considered the physical and chemical properties of the ingredients used and create formulas or directions based on this knowledge and after completing a literature search of available references.
Sterile medications generally bypass the body’s natural barriers and include injections and eye preparations; therefore they need to be made in an environment free from infections microorganisms like bacteria and viruses. Our rooms are designed to eliminate microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses through specific filters, equipment and rigorous cleaning. Non-sterile medications have the help of our body’s natural barriers and include creams, oral solutions and suspensions, suppositories and more. National standards have specific room and equipment requirements when making these preparations as well, although not as robust. In addition to being made in a specialized environment, the people making the compounded medication need to undergo specific training and reassessment regularly, to ensure the highest standards of sterility.
CWSL is committed to delivering the highest quality compounded medications by achieving NLPB and NAPRA compliance, our patients and providers can be assured that our organization follows industry best practices and is in compliance with the most stringent national standards. CWSL also dispenses specialty medication, and we work closely with patient support programs with most experience in ophthalmology programs. We also exclusively make certain eye injections for ophthalmologists in Newfoundland and Labrador.
If you would like more information about our pharmacy, please contact us.
Meet Our Team
Experience. Commitment. Excellence in Compounding.
Karen Francis
Co-Founder, Co-Owner
Pharmacist
VP of Pharmacy
Karen Francis
Co-Founder, Co-Owner
Pharmacist
VP of Pharmacy
Karen is an experienced owner operator with business planning and operations expertise along with a resilient and forward-thinking approach. In addition to co-owning Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab, Karen is also owner of Compounding Wellness Pharmacy, a successful independent community pharmacy specializing in non-sterile compounding which opened in May 1995. Karen graduated from the College of Trades and Technology in 1985 as a Pharmaceutical Chemist and is a registered pharmacist with NLPB with over 30 years’ experience.
Todd Gatehouse
Co-Founder, Co-Owner
VP of Finance and Business Development
Todd Gatehouse
Co-Founder, Co-Owner
VP of Finance and Business Development
In addition to co-founding and co-owning Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab, Todd has over 28 years of extensive sales, key account, operations and management experience in the pharmaceutical industry. A graduate of Memorial University’s Bachelor of Commerce (Co-Op), project management certification, pharmacy assistant and non-sterile compounder with addition training in dermatology compounding, he is also the owner and operator of Burin Pharmacy Compounding Wellness Center since 2015. Burin pharmacy is a successful independent community pharmacy that also specializes in non-sterile compounding.
Karla Vokey
Pharmacy Technician
Karla Vokey
Pharmacy Technician
Karla has a biochemistry degree from Memorial University and a Masters in Cancer and Development from Memorial University. Karla also has previous experience as a research assistant in biomedical sciences. Karla has worked with patient support programs and ophthalmologist clinics for the past several years. She has also completed an accredited pharmacy technician program to obtain the title of pharmacy technician and become more involved with compounding sterile preparations. Karla has an interest in learning more about pharmacy in general and hazardous compounding in particular. In her free time she volunteers with Beagle Paws and goes for walks with her husband and dog.
Lori Lee Beer
Pharmacy Technician
Lori Lee Beer
Pharmacy Technician
Lori Lee has worked in pharmacy for 22 years. She started off in retail pharmacy and after 15 years decided to make a big move for herself and her own personal growth to transition into hospital pharmacy. She worked in the hospital setting for 6 years gaining education and experience in all aspects of hospital pharmacy including cart checking, mental health, sterile compounding including TPN mixtures, chemotherapy, and the list goes on. Lori Lee most recently started working with Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab Facility to engross herself even more into one of her biggest pharmacy interests and pharmacy niche of sterile compounding. She has enjoyed the diversity in all her job roles and is always looking to expand her education and experience in pharmacy to help better herself and her patients. Lori Lee is 13 years married and has 2 beautiful children. Her daughter is 18 years old, and her son is 12 years old. Lori Lee’s husband is her biggest supporter in all her career advancements, and she always keeps him and herself busy. She does photography as a side job to keep her creative mind active.
Kaitlyn Parsons
Pharmacy Technician
Sterile Compounding Supervisor
Kaitlyn Parsons
Pharmacy Technician
Sterile Compounding Supervisor
Kaitlyn graduated from an accredited Pharmacy Technician Program in October 2017. She registered as a Pharmacy Technician with NLPB in August 2018. With the option to advance her skills and interests in compounding, she accepted a position with Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab in May 2019. Kaitlyn has completed and maintained theoretical and practical training for sterile compounding and housekeeping as required from reputable organizations since September 2019. Kaitlyn is our sterile compounding supervisor and our trainer and evaluator for compounders and housekeeping.
Wade Brenton
Pharmacy Assistant
Wade Brenton
Pharmacy Assistant
Wade graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts. He also has a diploma in information technology (IT) from Information Technology Institute. He has 20 years of sales and service experience and has ample experience in customer care support. Wade oversees our accounts and assists patients and customers to ensure all aspects of their accounts are taken care of. Wade’s interest in pharmacy started within the last year, and he plans on continuing to develop his skills within pharmacy. When not in the pharmacy Wade enjoys hiking and cooking.
Maggie Shukla
Pharmacist in Charge
Maggie Shukla
Pharmacist in Charge
Maggie is a registered pharmacist with NLPB. She graduated from Memorial University with a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) in 2013 and again in 2021 with a Doctor of Pharmacy. She has worked in Newfoundland and Labrador since starting her career after graduation. Maggie began working with Compounding Wellness Pharmacy over 5 years ago and this is when she engrossed herself in all thing’s pharmacy compounding. During this time with Compounding Wellness and eventually expanding with the opening of Compounding Wellness Sterile Lab, Maggie has completed several courses and designations in non-sterile compounding, hormone replacement compounding and sterile compounding. Maggie was a member of our development team for our facility.
Susan Gladney-Martin
Pharmacist
Management Consultant Quality Assurance
Susan Gladney-Martin
Pharmacist
Management Consultant Quality Assurance
Susan is a registered pharmacist with NLPB with over 30 years’ experience as a hospital pharmacist with the largest regional health authority in NL. She was an integral part of the development team of our sterile lab facility. Susan graduated from the College of Trades and Technology in 1982 as a Pharmaceutical Chemist and furthered her education with a Bachelor of Technology from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a Master of Health Studies from Athabasca University. In her 30 years as a hospital pharmacist, she established the Home IV Antibiotic Program and in 2000 she implemented USP 797 sterile compounding standard for the preparation of chemotherapy prior to a Canadian standard. Susan has completed several certified sterile compounding programs and has been providing sterile compounding education since 2000 to hospital pharmacy administrators and hospital pharmacy staff. Susan is the leading clean room expert in Newfoundland and Labrador and her expertise has been used provincially as a consultant for hospital pharmacies as they move towards NAPRA sterile compounding standards.
Heather Warren
Pharmacist
Non-Sterile Compounding Supervisor
Heather Warren
Pharmacist
Non-Sterile Compounding Supervisor
Heather is a registered pharmacist with NLPB. She graduated from Memorial University with a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) in 2005. She has worked in Newfoundland and Labrador since starting her career after graduation. Heather began working with Compounding Wellness Pharmacy over 5 years ago and this is when she engrossed herself in all thing’s pharmacy compounding. During this time with Compounding Wellness Heather has completed several courses and designations in non-sterile compounding, pain management and sterile compounding.
