INDIANAPOLIS — Pharmacies are disappearing across the country, including here in central Indiana.
Last week, we learned Walgreens is closing about 1,200 locations nationwide. The trend of closures is impacting access to often life-saving medications.
“She’s been on these medications for years, so she depends on it,” said Anthony Beverly.
He regularly picks up his grandma’s prescription since she can no longer drive, but recent pharmacy closures have made it harder.
“They keep closing locations and I have to keep going out further and further picking up medication for her,” he said.
In the past few years, he’s had to bounce around to several different pharmacies.
He used to go to the CVS on 29th and Lafayette Road which now sits abandoned on the city’s west side.
The closure is part of a larger trend across the city and the country.
“We saw Rite-Aid filed for bankruptcy recently,” said Darren Covington, the Executive Director of the Indiana Pharmacy Association. “There's a number of independent pharmacies across the state that have closed in the last few years.”
“There are areas, if we think about Indianapolis, that are considered pharmacy deserts, where we're seeing there haven't been any pharmacies for some time now, where there used to be,” added Dr. Veronica Vernon, an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Butler University.
Pharmacy deserts mean there is not a pharmacy within at least 10 miles, and for urban areas, that’s changed to two miles within recent years.
In Indianapolis, more than two dozen retail pharmacies have shut their doors in the last four years.
The Indiana Pharmacy Association told WRTV that doesn’t include at least a dozen more independent closures statewide.
“I get really worried when they start closing that I'm not going to be able to reach out to a pharmacy down the street to see if they can help fill that prescription in time for a patient,” explained Dr. Tracey Wilkinson, an Associate Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine. “These medications are very important to be taken on time and to be taken right away.”
Officials said as pharmacies close, they also worry about prescription shortages if everyone is depending on just a few locations.
It's why they are advocating for a solution that goes beyond healthcare.
“What we need is for policymakers at both the federal level and at the state level to pass legislation that will make sure pharmacies are getting fair reimbursement that can keep their doors open,” added Covington.
Walgreens said it's closing stores because of shrinking prescription reimbursements, rising costs, and customers turning to online retailers.
The company will begin by closing 500 stores starting in 2025.
There is still no word yet on how many Hoosier stores will be impacted.
