Woes for Walgreens customers: 2 pharmacies in C-U cut weekend hours, another closed for now
Jun. 7—CHAMPAIGN — As an older adult, Sandra Casserly relies on her prescription medications and access to refills.
"I think it's important," she said.
But when she went to her usual pharmacy, Walgreens at 1509 S. Neil St., C, over Memorial Day weekend, she arrived to find the pharmacy closed.
At least two Walgreens stores in Champaign-Urbana — the one at 1509 S. Neil and the one at 302 E. University Ave., U — have reduced the number of days they're open, at least for now. Signs at both indicate the pharmacies are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, though the stores are open. A sign outside the South Neil Street location says the weekend pharmacy closings are temporary for the month of June.
The Walgreens pharmacy at 841 Bloomington Road, C, had a sign indicating the pharmacy at that store was temporarily closed starting June 1, and the pharmacy department inside was shuttered on Monday.
Prescriptions from that location were transferred to the Walgreens at 1713 W. Springfield Ave., C, which was observed doing a brisk business Monday morning with customers waiting in line.
Casserly, a Champaign retiree, said she had gotten an alert from Walgreens prior to Memorial Day weekend that her prescriptions were up for refill and asking her if she wanted them.
Yes, she answered, they should go ahead and refill them.
After finding the pharmacy closed over the holiday weekend, she checked back with Walgreens this past Wednesday to see if her prescriptions were ready and was told the order hadn't gone through.
The employee there told her "maybe it would be ready Thursday, but she wasn't sure it could be," Casserly said.
She checked again Monday and learned she was going to be able to pick up her medications that day, she said.
It wasn't urgent a week ago, but "it's getting to be urgent," she said.
Walgreens spokeswoman Kris Lathan said in communities with staffing shortages, the chain has adjusted hours with the goal of creating minimal disruption to customers and patients.
"In such instances, we will direct customers to other nearby Walgreens locations for prescription needs, care and support," Lathan said Monday.
Garth Reynolds, executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, said issues such as the one Casserly experienced aren't unique to Walgreens customers these days.
Other pharmacies also have been cutting hours due to several factors — a reduced workforce, fewer people wanting to work in health care (including the pharmacy field) due to the stress levels involved, and on top of all that, economic pressures, he said.
Reynolds said insurers don't properly pay for medications being dispensed, which shortens pharmacy revenue — which, in turn, means not enough revenue to properly pay staff.
"This has been a decades-long problem, but it's all come to a head with the pandemic," Reynolds said.
At least part of the issue is a shortage of pharmacy technicians, who help pharmacists fill prescription orders.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists announced in March that hospitals and health systems were experiencing a severe shortage of pharmacy technicians, with some technicians expressing frustration over heavy workloads, inadequate staffing and inadequate compensation.
Casserly said her health insurer has been urging ordering medications by mail, but she hesitates to depend on the postal service for getting the medications she needs delivered.
Walgreens formerly had a location at Carle Health's clinic at 1701 Curtis Road, C, but it closed in late April, and prescriptions were transferred to the Walgreens inside Christie Clinic at 1801 W. Windsor Road.
Carle continues to host Walgreens pharmacies at Carle Foundation Hospital and its branch clinic in Mahomet, where no foreseeable changes were in the works, and will be opening a new Carle-owned pharmacy at the Curtis Road location soon, according to Carle spokeswoman Brittany Simon.
"We are excited to bring increased hours and access at that facility," she said.
