Intermountain Healthcare plans to close most of its retail pharmacies next month and transfer most of its inventory and prescriptions to CVS pharmacies. The health system in Salt Lake City announced last week that it would close all but one of its 26 retail pharmacies, citing low usage rates.
It will open a retail pharmacy in a junior children’s hospital. This change will not affect Intermountain’s hospital pharmacy, and it will continue to provide door-to-door and professional pharmacy services.
According to Daron Cowley, Intermountain’s director of media relations, approximately 250 employees will be affected by this change. He wrote in an email that they can choose to transition to other positions in Intermountain and will also consider taking a position at the local CVS Pharmacy location.
The pharmacy files at each location will be transferred to the nearby retail pharmacy. According to Intermountain, patients will receive a letter explaining the closure of the pharmacy, the prescription transfer process, and information about whom to contact for questions.
Nannette Berensen, chief operating officer of Intermountain Shared Clinical Services, said in a press release: “Every effort will be made to ensure that patients and staff are well taken care of during this transition period.”
This is a symptom of wider integration among retail pharmacy chains. CVS is still the largest, with more than 9,900 locations. It and rival Walgreens expect an increase in customers, partly because of the pandemic. When people enter their store to get vaccinated, Some of them changed their prescription.
Photo Credit: CVS Health
