Just hope this does not happen to the drugstore within a mile of the office. It is nice getting a script filled at three in the morning when you need it. They have been 24 hours a day since they opened years ago.



CVS says most of its reduced hours will be when there is low patient demand or when a store has only one pharmacist on site.



CVS Health Corp. CVS -0.24%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Walmart Inc. WMT 0.23%increase; green up pointing triangle are cutting pharmacy hours in the midst of a pharmacist shortage that has plagued the nation’s biggest drugstore chains throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

CVS, the largest U.S. drugstore chain by revenue, plans in March to cut or shift hours at about two-thirds of its roughly 9,000 U.S. locations. Walmart plans to reduce pharmacy hours by closing at 7 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. at most of its roughly 4,600 stores by March.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. previously said it was operating thousands of stores on reduced hours because of staffing shortages. Combined, the three chains operate some 24,000 retail pharmacies across the U.S.


Walmart last year raised pay for pharmacy technicians.


Earlier in the pandemic, CVS and Walgreens struggled to meet demand for Covid shots and vaccines. The chains cut hours and, in some cases, closed pharmacies for entire weekends. Walmart, which sells a wider variety of goods, cut overall store hours, in part, to cope with Covid-related labor shortages and make time to restock empty shelves as demand for basics such as toilet paper surged.

CVS, in a recent notice to field leaders, said most of its reduced hours will be during times when there is low patient demand or when a store has only one pharmacist on site, which the company said is a “top pain point,” for its pharmacists.

CVS said in a statement it periodically reviews pharmacy operating hours as part of the normal course of business to ensure stores are open during high-demand times. “By adjusting hours in select stores this spring, we ensure our pharmacy teams are available to serve patients when they’re most needed,” the company said, adding that customers who encounter a closed pharmacy can seek help at a nearby location.



At Walmart, the shorter hours offer pharmacy workers a better work-life balance and best serve customers in the hours they are most likely to visit the pharmacy, said a company spokeswoman. “This change is a direct result of feedback from our pharmacy associates and listening to our customers,” she said. Some Walmart pharmacies already close before 9 p.m., which will become standard across the country after the change.

The chains have been working to stop an exodus of pharmacy staff by offering such perks as bonuses, higher pay and guaranteed lunch breaks. Pharmacists were already in short supply before the pandemic, and consumer demand for Covid-19 shots and tests put additional strains on pharmacy operations. Walgreens recently said staffing problems persist and remain a drag on revenue.

Retail pharmacies, which benefited from a bump in sales and profits during the pandemic, are now reworking their business models as demand for Covid tests and vaccines decline and generic-drug sales generate smaller profits.

CVS and Walgreens are closing hundreds of U.S. stores and launching new healthcare offerings as they try to transform themselves into providers of a range of medical services, from diagnostic testing to primary care.

This past summer, Walgreens was offering bonuses up to $75,000 to attract pharmacists, while CVS is working to develop a system in which pharmacists could perform more tasks remotely.

In the past year, the chains have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into recruiting more pharmacists and technicians but staffing up has proven difficult. Pharmacists remain overworked, pharmacy-chain executives have acknowledged, and fewer people are attending pharmacy schools.

Meantime, many pharmacists who aren’t quitting the field are leaving drugstores to work in hospitals or with other employers.

Walmart raised wages for U.S. pharmacy technicians in the past year, bringing average pay to more than $20 an hour. Walmart said it planned to raise the minimum wage for all U.S. hourly workers in its stores and warehouses to $14 next month, from $12.

CVS and Walgreens last year raised their minimum wages to $15 an hour.

link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/c...88?mod=hp_lead_pos10

I live in a county with over a half million people. There is only one 24 hour CVS pharmacy, one 24 hour Walgreens, and both are a zoo at night. Everybody in there at night either just got out of urgent care or the emergency room.

At least there is a smart Whataburger franchisee next door to Walgreens who is also open 24 hours. Much better waiting in there with a little comfort food than at the 24 hour pharmacy.

The CVS near me has actually gotten rid of human checkout personnel and they now have self checkouts.

The advantage to this is that you can opt not to get a mile-long receipt now, LOL

We only go there in an emergency, if we run out of some cold medicine for the kids etc as their prices are insane. I honestly don’t know how CVS is still in business with the prices they charge, they are easily double or triple that of anywhere else.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
We only go there in an emergency, if we run out of some cold medicine for the kids etc as their prices are insane. I honestly don’t know how CVS is still in business with the prices they charge, they are easily double or triple that of anywhere else.

Join their awards program. Always a 30% off coupon, and most CVS branded OTCs have a $3 off coupon. The coupons can be co-applied which makes the prices OK.

The only Walgreens with a pharmacy open overnight is in St. Louis City off...which no one in the right mind would want to go to.

WalMart would do better by laying off a substantial portion of their zombie stare, barely-speaks-English-because-they-are-from-anywhere-but the-United-States staff. In my experience, most of them are worthless, have no concept of customer service, and are simply taking up space.

My oldest son is a CVS pharmacist, and he texted me earlier this week about getting reduced hours. I just hope it doesn't equate to reduced pay.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

Join their awards program. Always a 30% off coupon, and most CVS branded OTCs have a $3 off coupon. The coupons can be co-applied which makes the prices OK.

Meh.

I’ll continue to use Walmart and Amazon. 30% off something that’s 2-3 times the price of those two places is still not a deal.

quote:

My oldest son is a CVS pharmacist, and he texted me earlier this week about getting reduced hours. I just hope it doesn't equate to reduced pay.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If so, hospital pharmacy pays better with less hassle.

My daughter, while out on maternity leave right now with my first grandson (❤️) is the Pharmacist in charge of a local CVS. Since she has been out on maternity leave, her store has definitely cut back on the hours the pharmacy is open. CVS just doesn’t have enough pharmacists to man (or woman

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^^A consequence of the COVID insanity over the last three years, perhaps? I imagine these pharmacists were given the same vaccine ultimatum as other health care workers.

The tiny town drug store is busier than ever and they are two people short.

Twice in the last two weeks I've gone in to find a line of five people .

Every 3 months when I go to Walgreens to get my Rx refill, the pharmacy is an absolute madhouse. Regardless of the time of day, there are 3-5+ people in line, 3-4+ cars at the window, and just 1-2 pharmacy staff members (usually a pharmacist and a tech) running around like their hair is on fire doing a dozen things at once with phone receivers glued to their ears.

It's not uncommon for me to put in an online refill request for a pickup date a week later, and then it's still not ready on the day requested because they're running behind. You're basically able to pick approximately what week it'll be available, not what day/time.

It's clear they don't have enough staff (and even possibly enough locations) to support the demand for pharmacy services around here.

No wonder they're trying to push so many of their customers into receiving their prescriptions by mail.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Most of my scripts that are 90 day are by mail. However, short term scripts for antibiotics and creams have to be filled locally. Sometimes the local pharmacy is much lower in price and I will fill it there. Knowing the pharmacist helps as well.

I’ve been out of retail pharmacy for almost 5 years (best thing I ever decided). But for the 15 years I worked retail, I could count less than 10 times that a Walgreens had to close in my area due to lack of staffing. Now, it seems one is closed or had extremely limited hours every week.

Walgreens has been cutting staffing since the early 2010’s. It got to the point that things didn’t feel safe. Corporate was too focused on KPIs and not focused enough on employee retention and patient care. When you lose 15+ year pharmacists, that’s a problem. They aren’t immediately replaceable, although corporate treats them like a number and thinks they can be replaced and not skip a beat (absolutely false). The CVS’s in my area have always been staffed less than Walgreens.

The CVS up the street from me closed altogether. I don't know if this is an individual unprofitable store (I hardly ever saw anybody in it), the start of a trend or ongoing company-wide.

Doesn’t Aetna own CVS?

I wonder if it’s Aetna keeping them alive at this point because I just can’t see how they otherwise stay in business with the prices they charge.

Guess I'm just plain lucky.

Normally I go to the local USAF base pharmacy every 3 months for Rx refills. You call their automated system a couple days ahead of time to trigger refills and/or speak to a pharmacist to confirm activation of new Rx sent in electronically by non-military doctors. Usually in and out in less than 15 minutes.

My specialty medicines are fulfilled by mail through Express Scripts (Tricare). And I also use local pharmacies like The Medicine Shoppe when it is more convenient than making the drive to the base. Never have more than a 10 minute or so wait there. Just used them last month.

Been years since I used other pharmacies like Safeway, Walmart, etc. but there too there was never a really protracted wait. Not having been there recently I can't say if things have changed. But I suspect, given this city being a regional medical hub, that there are more than enough pharmacies and that their staffing / wait times are very good.

Doesn’t Aetna own CVS?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
No. CVS Health owns Aetna. As a result CVS is now the preferred pharmacy for Aetna subscribers. None of this is good for patients or costs.

I used to be a Walgreens employee, but NOT for the retail drug store part of Walgreens. I was in a very small specialty area of Walgreens.

Everything was fine when Greg Wasson was the CEO of Walgreens, IMO, but when Walgreens was sold/merged/screwed/whatever with Boots things went to crap.

I live 1.5 miles from a 24 hour Walgreens. I've been a loyal customer of this particular Walgreens since February of 2000. Used to be fine, good service with short waits, happy employees.

The short staffing is deplorable. Walk in, long line, often times only 1 pharmacy tech to run the front registers, maybe 2, used to be 3 or 4 working the front register counter.

Phones ringing off the wall unanswered. Customers a bit grouchy because they're not feeling well and standing in line for 30 minutes or longer.

I've called the pharmacy numerous times in the last 6 months and they NEVER answered. Or the phone was picked up and slammed on hold with no hello can you hold please. That's inexcusable.

Recently I called, the pharmacist picked up and laid the phone on the counter. I heard her identify as the Pharmacist; I knew who it was anyway as I recognized her voice. She discussed with a customer standing there, and this was a HIPPA violation because I heard questions and answers of patient's name, address, etc. Pathetic.

Lately at night there has been ONLY ONE person on duty in the pharmacy. The pharmacist. NO Tech, just her, and she's busy working the 2 drive through lanes. I've sat there in my car by the window and heard the discussion between her and another car. Driver wants to send in a script in through the vacuum tube thing. Pharmacist says she can NOT fill it tonight, she has TOO many cars in line to take care of. I don't have any idea how long she works without taking a pee break or whatever.

The pharmacies have brought this on them by making a decision to short staff. What do they save by cutting one tech? $15-20 an hour? Is that going to break Walgreens?

This corner has Walgreens, a CVS, and a Walmart Neighborhood Market with Pharmacy one building up. There's an intependent pharmacy one building up from the Walmart Pharmacy. There are at least 4 other pharmacies within a mile from these. They all suck in customer service.

The CVS across the corner from the Walgreens? CVS locally, as a whole, was fined $$$ by the Oklahoma Dept of Pharmacies for short staffing. It wasn't enough. I kid you not, half the time they've got a sign in the drive through window stating closed due to short staffing.

There are PLENTY of pharmacists and techs willing and able to work. But they've been burned by the short staffing, working like dogs, etc. The ONLY shortage of pharmacists & techs are the ones who do not want to work for lower wages and horrible working conditions.

BTW the Walgreens I worked at for years was NOT a retail pharmacy. However, we had an endless stream of pharmacy interns coming in for a few weeks each for an internship before they could graduate. Our pharmacy manager used them for pack mules, menial stocking and cleaning work, and NOT learning what was going on in our little world of non-retail pharmacy.

I always talked to the pharmacy interns, getting ready to graduate, and I always asked if they wouldn't mind sharing with me the amount of their student debt. I was nothing to heard of $250,000 minimum in student loan debt, over $300K and one said $425,000.

How the **** are they supposed to pay that off?????
.

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