JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Families on Jacksonville’s Northside are struggling to get prescriptions filled after three Walgreens locations shut down over the last 6 to 9 months.
Now, city leaders say they’re working on both short-term fixes and long-term solutions to prevent the problem from getting worse, and local pharmacists say they’re ready to help fill the gap as thousands of families look to fill prescriptions.
When you look at pharmacy access by ZIP code, the gaps are clear:
- In 32208, only four pharmacies are listed
- In 32218, there are just nine
Councilmembers say solutions are needed now before more closures happen.
“We can kind of create a travesty if we don’t get in front of this,” Council Reggie Gaffney Jr. said.
Local pharmacy manager Kevin Patel said his pharmacy is ready to fill most prescriptions, but narcotics remain a hurdle.
“We have the certain criteria to meet before we take new customers. If those are not made, we cannot help them. But otherwise, any maintenance medicine, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetic, any kind of thing, we love to take care of them,” Patel said.
He said local pharmacies can play a big role in filling the gap – as long as the previous pharmacies cooperate.
“We heard so many patients coming from Walgreens to transfer over here. When we try to reach them, it’s hard to reach those pharmacies because they are using the customer service, not physical location, but eventually we are not getting those prescriptions over here,” Patel said.
As city leaders search for both short-term fixes and long-term solutions, Patel said he and other local pharmacists are ready to step in — if given the chance.