Pharmacy Closed
Many Americans have quite literally hit a wall at the pharmacy counter lately. In addition to closing for lunch, itself a relatively recent development, many chain pharmacies are now also closing up shop earlier each day. Is business winding down along with the COVID-19 pandemic? Are Americans finally eating and living healthier, thus needing less prescriptions filled? Is our profession shrinking and over-saturated?
None of the above.
You might think there is plenty of business to go around for pharmacies in a pandemic. As the “most accessible healthcare professionals” we are on the front lines providing essential products and services such as vaccines, prescriptions, supplements, and of course information. Yet even before COVID-19, most Americans had already become dissatisfied in some way with their pharmacies. From wait times to poor communication to out-of-stock medications, these days it’s hard to find someone truly satisfied with their pharmacy. In fact, the pharmacies which have historically provided the best service in the industry - locally-owned or “independent” pharmacies - have struggled the most to keep their doors open.
Are Americans living healthier? Nope. We continue down a path of declining public health, so much that the adult life expectancy in the U.S. actually decreased in 2022. Our healthcare resources are strained, with little hope of relief, even as the pandemic eases. It may be true that many Americans found a healthier lifestyle in lock-down, but not everyone did! Mental health has rightfully taken its place alongside physical health in the spotlight, as many struggled coping with restrictions in practically every place, every day. Soon the federal healthcare emergency will be over, ending some important healthcare resources along with it. The pandemic forced us to face the lack of resilience in our healthcare system.
When my class was approaching graduation in 2016, we faced something unexpected: that there were too many pharmacists in the job market. A pharmacist license no longer guaranteed your choice of job offers and a nice living. Yet we all knew from required work experience and rotations how stressful it would be as a pharmacist. And working conditions in pharmacies have only declined over the last two decades, with an ever-increasing workload but an ever-decreasing budget. So, which is it - do we need more pharmacists, or are there too many? Most would agree - we need more pharmacists than ever.
Who benefits when there is LESS time to fill MORE prescriptions and provide MORE services? Not the patients, not the pharmacists, not the staff; and the quality of service suffers. In our business the economics are simple and well-documented: a pharmacist who is stretched too thin makes mistakes, and has the potential to cause extraordinary suffering. It’s unsustainable, and it’s been shockingly difficult to get this message up the corporate food chain. Despite advocating for ourselves through professional organizations and the media, little to no change has worked in our favor.
The causes are too numerous for one post, so I will be going into detail over time with this blog.
You might not like these pills.