Rite-Aid Is
‘Under the Gun’
On Staffing
For Pharmacy

The Vermont Pharmacy Board will "definitely" discuss complaints about Rite-Aid pharmacy departments at its next meeting Wednesday, Oct. 24.

And the executive director of the Vermont Pharmacists Association suggested that Rite-Aid is "under the gun to add to the number of pharmacists in the state."

Christopher Winters is the director of the Office of Professional Regulation at the Secretary of State’s office. He told The Herald last week that "we are aware of anecdotal complaints we’ve received with regard to Rite-Aid pharmacy departments not being open. Complaints have come from around the state, he said.

In addition, he said, Rite-Aid has notified his office "a number of times" when they have been closed for the day.

The Herald reported last week that Randolph area residents, senior advocates and medical authorities are upset by the fact that during the last two months the Rite-Aid pharmacy department has shut down on several weekend days when it is scheduled to be open, and even has closed early or not opened at all during some weekdays.

When Rite-Aide is closed just as patients are released from Gifford Medical Center with prescriptions to fill, "we really have to scramble," said Gifford’s vice president Linda Minsinger last week.

Winters pointed out that the authority of the Pharmacy Board and the Secretary of State’s office is unclear. The Secretary of State licenses pharmacies and pharmacists, and the board regulates the practice of pharmacy in Vermont, he said.

However, it’s not clear whether the closings of Rite-Aid violate any legal standards, he said.

In a WCAX Channel 3 TV news report aired Monday, Sec. of State Deb Markowitz suggested that the state is in no position to regulate the hours of private businesses.

Nevertheless, Winters said, he is sure the problem will come before the Pharmacy Board next Wednesday.

If anyone is interested in registering a complaint or a comment, Winters’ email address is cwinters@sec.state.vt.us and his phone number is 828-2367.

‘Under the Gun’

Also this week, the executive director of the Vermont Pharmacists Association, Jim Marmar, suggested that Rite-Aid ought to stay open for their posted hours.

"The company is now by far the major employer of pharmacists in Vermont, with 45 to 50 stores," said Marmar. For that reason, he said, it’s "under the gun to add to the number of pharmacists in the state."

He suggested some of the reasons for Rite-Aid’s problem may be specific to that company.

"There are pharmacists who do not like that organization, and so they’re leaving to work for other chains, independent stores, and hospitals," he said. Marmar is the pharmacy manager at the Woodstock Pharmacy besides being executive director of the statewide association.

He said he had heard of closures at Rite-Aid stores in Windsor and Essex Junction, as well. "I think they need to post their hours and stick to them, so customers will know what to expect," he said.

Marmar stressed, however, that the problem is not confined to Rite-Aid. There is a shortage of pharmacists in New England, he said, and especially a problem in Vermont, partly because there is no school of pharmacy here. That means that pharmacists graduating elsewhere must list Vermont when they take their national boards, as a state they may want to practice in. Otherwise they have to take part of the test when they come to Vermont, he said.

TV in Town

WCAX television crews were in Randolph and Middlebury this week to report on the pharmacist story. In Randolph, reporter Brian Joyce interviewed Dr. John Plavin, who called it "a serious problem in our state."

A Rite Aid spokesman at corporate headquarters in Pennsylvania would not comment in detail to The Herald last week. The spokesman wouldn’t comment to the TV station, either.