The trend: As major retail pharmacy chains close their doors, some hospitals and health systems are building out their pharmacy offerings to improve medication access for local patients.
For context, most health systems own pharmacies. But they primarily focus on dispensing specialty drugs to patients getting care in their hospitals as opposed to operating as true retail pharmacies.
Why it matters: The health systems in both New York State and Oregon said they expanded their pharmacy services due to an increased prevalence of local drugstores shutting down.
Walgreens, which plans to close about 14% of its US locations in the next three years, has shuttered several in Rochester starting in 2022, per local media outlet WXXI. Community leaders said the situation resulted in many residents having limited pharmacy access.
Samaritan Pharmacy in Lincoln City, Ore. is opening in direct response to retail drugstore chains and independent pharmacies closing their doors. In addition to typical services, Samaritan Pharmacy pharmacists can prescribe birth control, naloxone, Paxlovid, and emergency insulin refills.
Key stat: 59% of US consumers are worried about getting medications at a nearby pharmacy as a result of drugstore closures, per a July 2024 survey from Wolters Kluwer Health.
Our take: Health systems opening up neighborhood pharmacies will provide a lifeline to some patients, but won’t come close to filling the entire gap created by thousands of drugstore chain closures across the US in recent years.
We expect more consumers to explore alternative pharmacy services in 2025, including online offerings from Amazon and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, as well as mail-order pharmacies.
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First Published on Jan 3, 2025