With the closure of several Rite Aids throughout the region, pharmacies have seen a spike in their workloads.

The swell in prescription transfers and customer volume has clearly been felt at the Walmart in Lehighton, where the pharmacy has been inundated, Ben Gibson, Walmart pharmacist, said.

“Our focus has always been on patient care, both before and after these changes with Rite Aid, we have always prioritized patient care and safety above everything else,” Gibson said. “We’ve got just an A-plus team at the pharmacy in Lehighton.”

The store has added additional staffing to help.

“We’re pulling some support from some surrounding sister stores to really just support the Lehighton team and ensure there’s no gap in patient care,” Gibson said.

Gibson said the store was prepared if Rite Aid closed.

“But from the patient perspective, this came out of left field for a lot of people; they’re confused, they’re concerned. Our role is to step into that void and just ensure that not only are these patients taken care of, but (make sure they get the) immunizations that you need, is there additional services that we can offer; what is the patients preference going to be for the best way to connect with them.”

Gibson noted the Walmart app is available, and that the pharmacy is now live with central fill.

“We do hold ourselves to that top level gold industry standard of Walmart pharmaceutical care,” he said. “As we absorb this new population and new volume of prescriptions and new patient profiles, we need to have that effective planning to make sure we provide that care to our existing population, and also that new population.

“It’s a tough situation for everyone. But we believe in the end these patients will now receive the best care that they’ve ever received in their health care journey as a new Walmart pharmacy customer.”

Local pharmacies feel the sting

It’s been much the same at the local pharmacy level, including at Bechtel’s Pharmacy Inc. in Slatington, according to Ed Bechtel, president.

“We’re kind of being overwhelmed right now, with people wanting to transfer their prescription here, we’re doing the best we can to keep up,” Bechtel said. “The way pharmacists are reimbursed for our services, the way that it’s been traditionally done for 60 years, it just doesn’t work anymore.”

Bechtel expounded on that perspective.

“With the new drugs that are coming up costing anywhere from $500 to $1,000 to $1,500 a month for pharmacies to be reimbursed at some sort of cost plus a nominal fee just isn’t sustainable,” said Bechtel, who added they’re seeing that not only with Rite Aid closing, but also CVS last week announced they’re closing 270 stores nationwide, and a couple weeks ago Walgreens in the Philadelphia area announced closures as well. “The same thing that took Rite Aid down, unless something changes, is going to continue to get worse.”

Bechtel noted things have been rough enough over the course of the past several years to begin with.

“We’ve been hanging on by a thread for the last five years, (but) when you’re losing money on every pill you fill, increased volume is not going to make that better, it’s going to make it worse,” he said.

“We will attempt to do everything we can to serve our neighbors ... for as long as we can.”

Dave Silvonek, pharmacy manager for First National Pharmacy in Lehighton, said they too, have seen a swell in their duties as well.

“We have a good stream of customers filling out new patient forms, and the doctors are beginning to send new prescriptions to us,” Silvonek said. “We’ve filled quite a few Rite Aid customers, taking care of all their medical needs.”

Silvonek said First National Pharmacy is doing its part to ensure they’re meeting the needs of their customers.

“It’s making everyone’s job more stressful in the interim because we’re having to put (new) patient information into the computer for the first time,” he said. “We’re doing our best to keep everything running smoothly.”

Silvonek added the First National Pharmacy welcomes all customers.

2,000 new prescriptions

Kaela Roberts, store manager for Palmerton Pharmacy, said that in the last few weeks, they’ve noticed a lot of patients come over from Rite Aid have actually experienced a very good turnaround.

Roberts said Palmerton Pharmacy has gotten about 2,000 additional scripts than it had processed previously, and has taken on over 700 additional patients.

“We have taken on a very large workload, and we’re not turning anybody away,” Roberts said. “It has been a little hectic for us here, (but) all the staff here are doing amazing.

“They were a little worrisome at first with the workload we had taken on, it’s been a little crazy. We’re trying to find a steady flow with everybody; it will get there eventually.

“We always strive to have everyone in and out of our pharmacy as quick as possible, so we did put in an additional register. We strive to have patients waiting less than five minutes.”

It was announced recently that more Rite Aid stores are closing in the region, including two in Lehighton, and one in Walnutport and Brodheadsville.

That includes the stores at 1241 Blakeslee Blvd. Dr. Lehighton in the Carbon Plaza Mall, 241 N. First St., in Lehighton, 200 S. Best Ave. in Walnutport, and 504 Marion Lane, Brodheadsville.

Additionally, the Rite Aids at 452 S. Lehigh Ave., Frackville, and 7719 Main St., Fogelsville are part of the 151 stores on the latest closing list that Rite Aid announced in a bankruptcy filing last month.

These stores are in addition to the 210 stores that Rite Aid previously announced it would close.

The Rite Aid pharmacy in Palmerton, 601 Delaware Ave., closed on May 21, while the Rite Aid pharmacy in Tamaqua, 205 Center St., closed May 22.

For customers of the Rite Aid in Palmerton, prescriptions and health record databases were transferred to the Rite Aid pharmacy in Walnutport, 200 S. Best Ave., but now that is closing.

Rite Aid consumers have until Friday to use any gift cards, coupons or other Rite Aid rewards due to the company’s recent bankruptcy announcement.

Also, the stores will stop accepting returns or exchanges on Wednesday.

New Rite Aid LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on May 5.

Any consumers who experience issues redeeming their Rite Aid points, coupons, unused gift cards, or with returning merchandise to Rite Aid should submit a complaint to the Bureau of Consumer Protection online, or they may contact the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-441-2555.