Glass enclosed pharmacies

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storewanderer
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Glass enclosed pharmacies

Post by storewanderer »

I was in two Rite Aid Stores in Auburn, CA today and was a little surprised to see some enhanced security measures in the pharmacies.

One is a former Payless with a 1992 era Payless pharmacy. Basically a long corner department and the register counter, pharmacy work area, etc. all overlook the store with employees standing facing out into the store. Previously this whole thing was wide open (a gate went across it at night). Now this entire thing is enclosed in glass. Even the cash register area is enclosed in glass with a little perhaps 1 foot by 3 foot opening at each cash register to allow the transaction to take place.

The other is a former Thirfty with a 1975 era Thrifty pharmacy. This is a little different. The register counter is larger and outside the pharmacy work area. The register counter was still entirely open as it always has been. The pharmacy work area is up a few stairs and overlooks the store. This all used to be fairly open. There was a locked door between the register counter and work area with the pharmacy employees working behind that locked door. They went in and out as necessary for customers but were having to unlock it whenever going back in. This pharmacy work area was always enclosed by glass, but the area between the work area and the cash register counter was not closed before during pharmacy open hours like it was today.
Alpha8472
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Re: Glass enclosed pharmacies

Post by Alpha8472 »

This is nothing new. There are many pharmacies with bullet resistant windows. I am surprised that more pharmacies do not use bullet resistant shields. The drugs in a pharmacy can be sold on the street for tons of money. The pharmacy can lose its license for letting controlled drugs get stolen too often. The DEA is cracking down. They can shut down pharmacies for ordering large amounts of addictive controlled drugs. If the pharmacy is robbed often enough, then the DEA will launch an investigation and try to shut down the pharmacy. The DEA does not want drugs to get into the wrong hands and the government will force pharmacies to close.

The real reason for the bullet resistant shields is probably due to wrongful death lawsuits. There have been pharmacy robberies where pharmacists and other employees have been shot and killed. There have been pharmacists who were crippled for life and the drugstore chain had to pay for their lifelong medical bills. I know of several pharmacies including Walgreens and Walmart that have been robbed multiple times with guns. A friend had a robber point a gun at her back and demand drugs. It is ridiculous. Something needs to be done. The pharmacy's license is on the line. If the pharmacy loses its license, then there goes a ton of money. It is a cost savings thing in the long run to install bullet resistant shields. The robbers are after drugs. They don't care about the cash register. There are so many addicts that want the Oxycontin, Xanax, Norco, etc. The addicts want the pills, and the professional drug dealers know they can sell the pills for a huge amount of money on the streets. California is second in the nation for pharmacy robberies after Indiana. The opioid crisis is out of control in Indiana.

The worst design is the Walmart pharmacy design with an opening in the counter where criminals can walk right into the pharmacy and steal. The old Walmart design was a high counter and locked doors. This design made it difficult for robbers to climb over the counters. However, someone came up with the idea for an open counter and an unlocked plastic swinging gate.

The Walmart pharmacy of the future prototype will feature a fully enclosed pharmacy where drugs are dispensed via an ATM style automated drug dispensing machine. This can be accessed 24 hours a day and securely provide customers with prescriptions. There will no longer be any face to face danger or robberies. However, that is years from now and probably more of an absurd idea than a plan.
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Re: Glass enclosed pharmacies

Post by BatteryMill »

I have not seen any examples of enclosed pharmacies in NoVA. I've only seen certain stores like Giant-MD and Rite Aid have higher counters that make it harder to reach the pharmacy stock.
Alpha8472 wrote: November 24th, 2019, 10:14 pm The Walmart pharmacy of the future prototype will feature a fully enclosed pharmacy where drugs are dispensed via an ATM style automated drug dispensing machine. This can be accessed 24 hours a day and securely provide customers with prescriptions. There will no longer be any face to face danger or robberies. However, that is years from now and probably more of an absurd idea than a plan.
Has this actually been proposed by Walmart? That sounds like a good plan - though I wonder if pharmacists will still be on-site to verify prescriptions and give council to customers.
Alpha8472
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Re: Glass enclosed pharmacies

Post by Alpha8472 »

There will still be pharmacists working behind the scenes, but finished prescriptions will be put into a machine ready to be dispensed like an Amazon Locker machine available 24 hours a day.
rwsandiego
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Re: Glass enclosed pharmacies

Post by rwsandiego »

Alpha8472 wrote: November 24th, 2019, 10:14 pm...The Walmart pharmacy of the future prototype will feature a fully enclosed pharmacy where drugs are dispensed via an ATM style automated drug dispensing machine. This can be accessed 24 hours a day and securely provide customers with prescriptions. There will no longer be any face to face danger or robberies. However, that is years from now and probably more of an absurd idea than a plan.
Longs Drugs had that in the Friar's Mission Center store in San Diego back in the mid-2000's. My prescriptions were all filled at Target, so I never used it. The customer could still talk to a pharmacist. I don't recall whether they removed it before the sale to CVS.
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Re: Glass enclosed pharmacies

Post by Super S »

I have always found it interesting how many chain stores are not consistent with the placement of pharmacies in their stores. When Walmart built a new store where I live, they placed the pharmacy in a "box" between the clothing and grocery area near the back of the store. This one also has a drive-thru which uses tubes like the banks.When they closed the other one here for the supercenter conversion, they completely gutted the store, and moved the pharmacy to right next to one set of doors as you walk in. This one lacks a drive-thru.

Safeway places the pharmacy at the rear of the store most of the time. However, they seem to keep the pharmacy location the same in stores they acquire, even during subsequent remodels. One location near me, a former TOP Foods, still has the pharmacy in the TOP location, where another has the pharmacy in a front corner of the store next to produce and has a drive-thru.

Several Rite Aid stores which were acquired from PayLess have retained the original pharmacy locations as well, with some at the side and some at the front.
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