Member Stories
Divesh Sanghvi
Pharmacist
Owner of multiple member pharmacies
Hi, I’m Divesh.

I’m a second-generation pharmacist, I live in Melbourne with my wife and three sons, and own pharmacies in VIC, TAS, NSW and WA.

Because my dad was a pharmacist, it was a family joke that I was drugged at birth and that’s why I became a pharmacist too. 

But the truth is, as I grew up I became interested in the sciences and realised that being a professional was the way to go, I saw that my dad’s profession could give me the work-life balance that I was looking for, so I followed in his footsteps.

I’ve been a pharmacist for 17 years now.  I did my traineeship in a country hospital. Then I went to the Royal Melbourne and did a diploma of clinical services. Then, after some time working in the UK, I joined dad in his pharmacy in Werribee.

My dad introduced me to Simon, so we met over lunch and, both being second generation pharmacists, we got on famously.

Simon proposed that I become a Pharmacy Group Manager (PGM) for Pharmacy Alliance and that I buy into West Tamar Pharmacy.  

I loved being a PGM it was a good life but a hard life lots of travel and a lot of learning.

As PGM I saw the things that Pharmacy Alliance was doing– it was innovative, quick to market and got things done and I could see how it benefited the pharmacies I owned as well.

If it wasn’t for Pharmacy Alliance I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. For my Partner pharmacies, Pharmacy Alliance works ‘in the pharmacy’ which allows me to work on the pharmacy.

As I’m not working in the pharmacies I’m able to be more entrepreneurial to go out and explore other business opportunities as my day-to-day. Being part of Pharmacy Alliance has also given me the opportunity to be a custodian of the pharmacy brand – we want to hand the pharmacy brand over to the next generation better than what we got it in – I believe this is where Pharmacy Alliance’s true values lie.

Pharmacy Alliance’s access to regional pharmacies is second to none, I couldn’t imagine sourcing my pharmacies on my own.

As a Partner owner I trust Pharmacy Alliance to be able to manage almost everything –from HR, to running a team, keeping the stock right, keeping the goodwill of the community because they understand that we are there for them

I love the Pharmacy Alliance network, meeting other owners to talk through issues that we are all going through. I believe the people at the Member Support Office genuinely care about their job and I love that Pharmacy Alliance is owned and run by pharmacists.

With this I’m confident that Pharmacy Alliance understands what I need as an owner, what my pharmacy needs and will always have that in mind.