Published: August 08, 2006 10:06 am      

Danville feels pharmacist shortage

Walgreens juggles services when it can

DANVILLE — Customers who wanted to get a prescription filled at the Walgreens on Fairchild Street found the pharmacy closed Sunday.

The pharmacist was ill, but customers still could get their prescriptions filled on the other side of town at the East Main Street Walgreens.

Although Tiffani Bruce, a spokeswoman at Deerfield-based Walgreens corporate headquarters, calls the incident an isolated situation, it illustrates the growing need — and critical shortage — of pharmacists nationwide.

“This is a case that wouldn’t happen often,” she said of Sunday’s closure.

Bruce said the Fairchild Street pharmacy has closed four times in the last eight months.

Because the East Main Street pharmacy is open on Sundays, Bruce said, “We couldn’t share the pharmacist from there because there was only one (working on Sunday).”

“We don’t ask our pharmacists to work extended hours,” she continued. “We want to maintain accuracy and high quality.”

Jereme Makowski, a Danville Walgreens employee, said the shortage of pharmacists is noticeable.

“There’s not enough (pharmacists) to meet the demand,” he said.

“They’re having them bump around to different Walgreens and shortening the hours the pharmacy is open.”

At the East Main Street Walgreens, a marquee offers a sign-on bonus for pharmacists hired there.

A store manager blames today’s shortage on the closure of several pharmacy schools in the 1980s and growing demand for medications from an aging population.

To combat the pharmacist shortage, Bruce said Walgreens instituted an aggressive recruitment program and shortened its pharmacy hours at select locations.

The Fairchild Street Walgreens shortened its pharmacy hours last fall.

“We are constantly recruiting. We recruit from all over the country,” she said, adding Walgreens has 5,400 stores nationwide and opens new stores often.

“We have a pretty healthy group of (pharmacy) graduates, but in some areas, there’s more of a challenge to recruit them.

“We offer incentives that vary based on need,” Bruce said.

“Pharmacy is a field that is wide open. Demand keeps growing, especially with the baby boomers.”