The business manager of Waltz Pharmacy said she was heart-broken that the company was closing their last retail pharmacy in Waldoboro.
A Nov. 5 press release from Susan Blake said the company will close the Waldoboro store’s doors permanently on Sat., Nov. 17.
“I’m in a difficult position because I don’t own the store,” Blake said after explaining that company owner and president Dean Jacobs had been out of town and was not available to comment on the decision. Blake said she could not comment without permission from Jacobs. “If Dean is not available, I’m limited in what I can say,” she said.
Blake said Rite Aid is purchasing some inventory and other assets, as well as the store’s prescription accounts. Prescription records from Waltz Pharmacy will be transferred to the Rite Aid Pharmacy at 365 Main St. in Damariscotta.
A Nov. 2 story in the Bangor Daily News said Waltz’s shift from retail pharmacies to providing services to nursing homes and other long-term care (LTC) facilities began a decade ago.
“To say the LTC business grew by leaps and bounds has a literal meaning for Waltz, which can take on dozens or hundreds of new patients within a single new contract,” the story by Chris Cousins states. “The venture quickly outgrew the back room in Camden. As the company has closed its retail pharmacy locations in the past four years (Jacobs’ parents retired from the business last year), the LTC business has flourished.”
“From an economic standpoint, it’s a more viable option than a retail pharmacy,” Blake said Nov. 6. She said the LTC business is separate from the retail operation.
Blake said the retail pharmacy was not making enough money because of a drop in the amount the store is reimbursed for prescriptions by private insurers and the federal Medicaid program, administered by the state of Maine as MaineCare.
“Waldoboro has a high percentage of Medicaid,” Blake said. “Often the reimbursement is less than the cost of the product.” She said benefits managers have reduced the margins that define vendor profits. “It’s becoming more difficult to cover our costs, close to impossible.”
Blake said the business environment has changed for pharmacies.
“Within the next year or so we’ll see a lot of generics enter the market.” Blake said brand name pharmaceuticals offer a larger margin.
“It’s hard to raise prices,” she said. “We have to compete with the Wal Mart’s of the world who offer a $4 co-pay on generics. When you have a population that is, in large part, tied to Medicaid or a particular insurance, you can raise your prices all you want but that doesn’t mean you’ll get paid. There are maximums set by insurance companies and that’s what they’ll pay you.
Blake’s said Rite Aid has agreed to deliver prescriptions to Waldoboro customers. She said Waltz has never charged for delivery but was not sure what Rite Aid’s policy would be.
Rite Aid spokesman Eric Harkreader said the Rite Aid in Damariscotta will continue to welcome customers from Waltz Pharmacy.
“We are extending free prescription delivery service to these customers to make the transition as smooth as possible,” Harkreader said. He said Rite Aid’s services include the ability to fill, transfer prescriptions and receive refill reminders by phone, email and text message.
Harkreader said the deal covers the prescription files but not the physical location.
Waltz Pharmacy in Waldoboro currently employs seven full-time and four part-time workers. Blake said Rite-Aid conducted interviews with some of them.
Blake said Waltz Pharmacy filled between 1100 and 1200 prescriptions a week, over the past year. She said her company is required to pay vendors within seven days for the products it buys, but that reimbursement from insurers often takes up to a month to be paid.
“The pharmaceutical industry may be [making money] but we sure aren’t,” she said. “It’s a tough business. As it is this pharmacy has probably stayed open longer than it should have in an effort to serve this community.” She said Jacobs’ family has “continued to pump money into it this year.”
“When you look at a family whose life has been about independent pharmacy, little by little that screw’s been turned,” Blake said. “Ultimately you want to serve the needs of the community, but do you put yourself in bankruptcy in the process?”
Blake said Rite Aid was only one of a number of independent and larger pharmacies that considered purchasing Waltz’s Waldoboro store, but that they were not in a position to do so.
“The reality of the demographics and the economics is that it’s just tough to do,” she said.
“We are painfully aware of the customers we serve and of their needs,” she said.
“Rite Aid is a member of the community, as well, and has been for years,” Blake said. “The people who work in the pharmacy there are also members of the community, some of whom have been employees of Waltz in the past and who remain equally concerned about the customers they serve. Rite Aid is anxious to continue meeting the needs of the Waldoboro population including providing delivery service.”
“Many of your readers have been our customers for years and while the store closing does represent a change, we would like to assure them that their pharmacy needs will continue to be met,” she said.
The phone number for Rite Aid in Damariscotta is 563-3506, for those seeking more information about transferring prescriptions.
