Rochester, N.Y. — Hundreds of Rite Aid stores across the country, including some in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region, will close following the company’s second
Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing
.
The New York State Department of Labor recently published notices for Rite Aid stores ahead of the
closures across the state
.
The list includes a total of 12 stores across Monroe, Ontario, Wayne, Genesee, Wyoming and Yates counties, impacting 128 employees.
- 1792 North Goodman Street, Rochester (14)
- 1000 North Clinton Avenue, Rochester (12)
- 605 Titus Avenue, Irondequoit (10)
- 4374 Buffalo Road, Chili (9)
- 539 North Main Street, Canandaigua (13)
- 170 Eastern Boulevard, Canandaigua (8)
- 420 Hamilton Street, Geneva (11)
- 4155 West Main Street, Batavia (12)
- 601 East Main Street, Batavia (10)
- 153 Prospect Street, Attica (10)
- 101 South Main Street, Newark (9)
- 138 Elm Street, Penn Yan (10)
The stores are slated to close Wednesday, according to the notices.
In a statement, Chris Krese, spokesman for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, took aim at pharmacy benefit managers.
Federal and state governments need to do fully what is in their power to reform harmful pharmaceutical benefit managers (PBMs) tactics. These tactics force pharmacies to dispense medications at a loss, and now pharmacies are closing at a rate of about four per day. While PBM tactics devastate pharmacies, restrict patients’ access to healthcare, and inflate patients’ drug costs, the PBM middlemen profit enormously.
New York State has made significant progress with reform, yet additional legislation and enforcement are under consideration and should be viewed as must-dos. Federally, Congress has PBM reforms that are ready-to-go that have strong and broad support. Congress needs to enact these reforms without further delay. The Trump Administration also can take actions within its power, and it is imperative that President Trump’s April 15 executive order leads to additional action to take on the PBM middlemen.
Comprehensive actions by all levels and branches of government are needed right now to reform the PBM middlemen and defend New Yorkers, all Americans, and their trusted pharmacists and pharmacies.
BACKGROUND:
Examining the causes of pharmacy closures in Rochester region
|
Trump signs executive order to slash prescription drug prices
|
New York to introduce regulations for pharmacy benefit managers
But the news is also creating concerns, especially for shoppers without transportation.
“It’s a huge impact because there’s not many stores on this street,” said Jose Gonzalez of Rochester. “First of all, more importantly, for people who don’t have vehicles, it just means more travel, spending more money, so I think that’s part of the biggest part that’s going to impact a lot of houses or people who live in this area.”
Patrick McCabe, director of retail and specialty pharmacy for Rochester Regional Health, said the local health systems can help those in need of a new pharmacy. He noted many local health care facilities
have pharmacies on site
.
“If you’re close to one of our pharmacies, or think you’d benefit from our adherence program and our delivery program at Riedman, we definitely encourage you to reach out,” McCabe said. “Our pharmacists there will tell us you want us to switch, and we’ll take care of contacting your doctor, getting new prescriptions sent over to us, especially if you’re a Rochester Regional patient. That’s the other benefit to using a pharmacy that belongs to the to the health system where you get care, is that we have such a such a continuity of care with your providers. It’s easier for our staff — even easier than, like a CVS or Rite Aid — to just hop on a hop on a secure chat with you or with your provider if there’s questions about prescriptions or something like that.”
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