CUSTOMERS will be disappointed to find out CVS and Walmart are both reducing the hours of their pharmacies this year.
Walmart pharmacies are now closing at 7pm on weekdays, two hours earlier than when they usually closed at 9pm, at around 4,600 locations.
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Similarly, CVS announced two-thirds of its locations are reducing hours beginning March 2.
The reduced hours are only intended to affect times when patient demand is low or the store only has one pharmacist working.
CVS previously made a change to the pharmacy schedule last year, when they closed from 1:30 p.m. until 2 p.m. to give staff a lunch break.
The hour cuts occur as the pharmacy industry faces nationwide staffing shortages.
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“By adjusting hours in select stores this spring, we ensure our pharmacy teams are available to serve patients when they’re most needed,” CVS told The Wall Street Journal.
THE UNDERLYING REASONS
The healthcare staffing shortages were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic when exposure to the virus and general burnout led many to abandon their jobs for something else.
While the shortages have helped employees earn higher wages at pharmacies, customers are still feeling the brunt of it as they’re forced to deal with longer wait times.
More than three-quarters of community pharmacies could not fill open positions last year, according to a survey from the National Community Pharmacists Association.
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Between May and November 2021, rates had not changed much in terms of struggling pharmacies, as 79 and 70 percent still said they couldn’t adequately find workers.
A huge majority, 88 percent, of pharmacies said finding pharmacy technicians was their number one problem.
To combat this, 73 percent indicated they were offering higher wages and benefits, and 54 percent said patient prescriptions were taking longer to fill.
“Community pharmacists take pride in their ability to be able to efficiently take care of the consumer’s health care needs, especially compared to some of the big chains,” said B. Douglas Hoey, the chief executive officer of the National Community Pharmacists Association, as reported by The Pharmacy Times.
“Staffing shortages are making those normally short wait times a little longer. You take the labor shortage which was acute and add runaway inflation this year, and you have challenging conditions for local, independent pharmacies.”
Walmart, CVS and other national pharmacy chains are working hard to get their way through the staffing shortages, offering everything from signing bonuses, higher wages and better lunch breaks.
Walgreens said last year it would be eliminating task-based metrics for pharmacy staff performance reviews, another move that likely hoped to draw in more talent.
Since the retailers announced the reduced pharmacy hours, shoppers have already expressed their concerns.
“I could see that being an issue for commuters who don’t get out until 6 p.m. and then need to pick something up if they’re closed,” said Cassandra Johnson of Bristol, according to NBC Connecticut.
PHARMACIST RESPONSE
The American Pharmacists Association has also expressed concern over how the reduced hours could affect patients.
With fewer hours available to pick up prescriptions or receive vaccines, many patients could suffer in getting the healthcare they need.
Plus, pharmacists will still have to get the same amount of work and prescriptions done but now they have less time to do it, leading to concerns about overall workflow.
"Some are blaming reduced hours on a pharmacist shortage,” said Illisa BG Bernstein, the interim executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Pharmacists Association in a statement. “It is incorrect to say that there is a shortage of pharmacists or pharmacy technicians."
“More accurately, there is a shortage of pharmacists and technicians willing to work under the current conditions… We need to stop conflating and blaming the current conditions on pharmacist or technician shortages, when it's due to short-staffing and health care system faults."
A NEW PHARMACY PLAYER
As Walmart and CVS tighten grips on their hours, Amazon has entered the industry arena.
Amazon Pharmacy launched in January as a new prescription service that allows patients to receive generic medications for just $5 a month.
The service also provides customers 24/7 access to licensed pharmacists, something that brick and mortar pharmacists are generally unable to compete with.
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Walmart and several other retailers have also been embracing the trend of meal kits, offering their own versions to shoppers in stores.
Plus, there are several CVS stores that will be outright closing in the months ahead – see if yours is affected.
