Rite Aid

kr.abs.swy
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by kr.abs.swy »

Our local Rite Aid has shortened their pharmacy hours. The Fred Meyer has done the same. I saw a line for prescription drop off that was probably about 30 minutes long at a Safeway on the Oregon Coast a few weeks ago. I saw a line for drop off in a Fred Meyer that was probably 20-25 minutes long yesterday. I've seen signs saying that vaccinations are by appointment only in a Safeway.
bryceleinan wrote: November 10th, 2021, 5:20 am
storewanderer wrote: November 9th, 2021, 10:17 pm
bryceleinan wrote: November 9th, 2021, 9:13 pm I received an email in the last couple of days talking about all the pharmacy hour cuts at Rite Aid in Gardnerville and other towns throughout the area - they’re closing an hour early, no more walk-in vaccinations, and other hours changes. Saw the Dayton and South Reno Smith’s did something very similar, so I’m wondering how bad the RAD and Kroger staffing shortages are compared to other chains.
That e-mail you received does not even reflect the dire reality at the Gardnerville Rite Aid. As of Sunday, their new hours are 10 AM to 6 PM. They will re-evaluate hours based on staffing weekly. They only have 3-4 employees left on the front end. Pharmacy is actually better staffed but I guess you can't open the pharmacy if you can't open the front end. What a dilemma.

Have also observed some store hours cut with random CVS locations in Reno and Carson City. This was by way of handwritten signs when I tried to go into the stores, they were closed or about to close, well before posted times. So far Walgreens seems to keep being open its usual hours...

Dayton is one of the highest volume pharmacies in Kroger, so I am surprised they did not figure out a solution to keep that running. I would think they need to be open normal hours just to get all the prescriptions sold.
I’m thinking Rite Aid’s issues are a reflection of the pharmacy industry in general. Dayton Smith’s lost a majority of the pharmacy staff - it’s not unheard of to wait in line 90 mins to pick up a prescription. I wound up transferring elsewhere because they dropped the ball so many times on one of mine.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by Alpha8472 »

The long lines at the pharmacy are due to the COVID booster vaccinations and children's COVID vaccinations being approved. People are bringing the entire family to get COVID vaccines and the demand is high. It is crazy. I have not seen pharmacy lines like this in years. Many pharmacies ore overwhelmed. This is due to the fact that the mass vaccination sites that used to do hundreds per day are no longer around as when the COVID vaccines first came out. Now everyone has to get their vaccinations at a pharmacy. It is totally out of control. If you want to drop off a prescription you have to wait in line behind an entire family that wants to get their vaccinations all at once.

This is why it is essential that people try to book appointments online and fill out the forms online before they come to the store. Most the time people show up unannounced and they are so disorganized. They come to the pharmacy with no insurance cards, no identification, no vaccination cards as proof that got the previous doses. People are so entitled that they walk in with no identification and expect the pharmacy to give them free vaccinations. How does the pharmacy know that you have not already gotten the vaccination already? The pharmacy is legally obligated to use your insurance first to pay for the vaccine. Only if you have no insurance does the government pay for your vaccination. The pharmacy needs to have proof of your previous vaccinations so that they can make sure it has been 21 or 28 days since your last vaccination. Any vaccine given too early is considered a medication error and can cause a pharmacist to lose their license.

So that is why there are long lines at pharmacies. I would feel very unsafe using a Safeway Pharmacy as often a Safeway pharmacy is staffed by 1 pharmacist alone. Safeway and Albertsons fired most of their pharmacy technicians forcing pharmacists to work alone.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by storewanderer »

I would point out the only major chain pharmacy I know of that is NOT doing any COVID shots is Raleys. They are doing flu shots, but not COVID shots. So if adding the task of doing these COVID shots really seems to be messing up the workflow at a lot of chain pharmacies, that is one place where it wouldn't be happening...
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by Alpha8472 »

Many CVS and Walgreens stores are now saying COVID vaccinations need appointments. They do not want to do walk in COVID vaccinations, because it really slows down the workflow as the pharmacist has to stop what they are doing and prepare the vaccinations.

The difference between flu vaccinations and COVID vaccinations is that flu shots are much more profitable. Walmart has told their pharmacists there is no longer a quota on COVID vaccinations. Now there is a required quota on flu vaccinations. You have to do so many flu shots by this date or else there will be dire consequences.

Also pharmacy chains are pushing other vaccinations. So you end up pushing customers to get 3 or 4 different vaccinations at the same time. This is hundreds of dollars in profit for the pharmacy chains. It also takes up so much time. 4 shots could take 25 minutes to prepare and administer. In that time, the pharmacist could have processed the prescriptions for 12 patients. Pharmacies have become vaccine pushers all in the name of profit. Customers are walking out of the pharmacy with sore arms and 4 bandages. It is out of control.

Flu vaccinations are expensive, especially the high dose flu shots for seniors. The COVID vaccinations are money losing as the government forces pharmacies to give them away for free to anyone. Those who have no insurance or forget their insurance cards result in the pharmacy not getting paid an administration fee. However, with flu shots you get the administration fee and the full profit from the expensive flu shot.

So now pharmacy chains are doing their best to discourage COVID shots and push the profitable flu shots. As usual, there is a shortage of labor at pharmacies now. The pharmacy technician jobs pay terribly. The technicians are leaving for higher paying and less stressful jobs. That is why there are long lines at pharmacies. At my pharmacy, we cannot even hire anyone new. The job applicants are totally unqualified and demand absurdly high pay. The young people these days just out of college are the most spoiled, entitled, demanding job applicants that I have ever had to deal with. These people have no social skills and expect employers to give them everything. The few that do get hired have terrible work ethic and call out sick all the time. Some have such terrible attitude that their excuse for not showing up for work at the pharmacy was that they forgot they were supposed to work that day.

This is why pharmacy chains need to pay more. If they are not being paid much more than other retail jobs, then you will end up with the most unqualified and incompetent people. The Pharmacy chains don't care. They won't even allow full time for new workers. No one is going to take a job if they are barely getting part time hours. This is making the labor shortage worse.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by buckguy »

Pharmacies are reimbursed for COVID vaccines and they can be reimbursed for uninsured people. Here is a publications about this from their trade association: https://ncpa.org/sites/default/files/20 ... embers.pdf. Perhaps, the reimbursement is more favorable for other vaccines, although if the clientele skews older, there is probably more Medicare and less private insurance. At least here in DC, appointments technically always have been needed for COVID vaccination, although not always required. The volume probably has increased again with vaccination of children and older people getting boosters.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by Alpha8472 »

The reimbursement for uninsured and no ID patients is a long process. You wait 24 to 48 hours for a temporary ID and then you can start the process to get reimbursement. When you have dozens of uninsured patients or patients who refuse to show ID, then you have a huge time consuming process.

Time is money. Why take so much time and go through hoops when an employee can be filling prescriptions and giving vaccinations to people who have ID or insurance that pays easily for a vaccine?

So there is quite a large amount of loss. This is especially true when people refuse to sign the proper forms. Patients have to sign saying they have no insurance. They often refuse and demand the free COVID vaccination. The entitlement from people these days is off the scale. People who demand free things and complain are putting stress on every single pharmacy employee. Sometimes you just have to say, "Fine. You can have it for free and you do not need to sign. No one is forcing you to sign or give away your ID number."

Overall, pharmacies are seeing increases in prescriptions being filled right now due to people seeing their doctors more often now. During the pandemic, people were afraid to go to the doctor's office. Now people are getting vaccinated and they are seeing their doctors again. There are also more prescriptions for antibiotics and anti-flu medications. People are getting sick with colds and the flu more often now and they are coming in with prescriptions for medications. There are ton of people coming in with pneumonia prescriptions. There are prescriptions for inhalers, prednisone, etc. Also, many people are getting surgeries and procedures done now that they put off before the pandemic. So this is causing longer lines at pharmacies. Many of these cold and flu cases are being caused by many people neglecting to wear masks. I see parents bring in sick kids and none of them are wearing masks even though they are visibly sick and coughing. The parents themselves do not wear masks. Mask deniers are very common at pharmacy counters. Pharmacies do not care. These mask deniers bring in the prescriptions that the corporate office keeps demanding more of.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by veteran+ »

Wow, that's pretty bad.

I guess I'm lucky with Pavilions Pharmacy in West Hollywood.

None of those issues.

:|
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by bryceleinan »

kr.abs.swy wrote: November 10th, 2021, 5:35 am Our local Rite Aid has shortened their pharmacy hours. The Fred Meyer has done the same. I saw a line for prescription drop off that was probably about 30 minutes long at a Safeway on the Oregon Coast a few weeks ago. I saw a line for drop off in a Fred Meyer that was probably 20-25 minutes long yesterday. I've seen signs saying that vaccinations are by appointment only in a Safeway.
bryceleinan wrote: November 10th, 2021, 5:20 am
storewanderer wrote: November 9th, 2021, 10:17 pm

That e-mail you received does not even reflect the dire reality at the Gardnerville Rite Aid. As of Sunday, their new hours are 10 AM to 6 PM. They will re-evaluate hours based on staffing weekly. They only have 3-4 employees left on the front end. Pharmacy is actually better staffed but I guess you can't open the pharmacy if you can't open the front end. What a dilemma.

Have also observed some store hours cut with random CVS locations in Reno and Carson City. This was by way of handwritten signs when I tried to go into the stores, they were closed or about to close, well before posted times. So far Walgreens seems to keep being open its usual hours...

Dayton is one of the highest volume pharmacies in Kroger, so I am surprised they did not figure out a solution to keep that running. I would think they need to be open normal hours just to get all the prescriptions sold.
I’m thinking Rite Aid’s issues are a reflection of the pharmacy industry in general. Dayton Smith’s lost a majority of the pharmacy staff - it’s not unheard of to wait in line 90 mins to pick up a prescription. I wound up transferring elsewhere because they dropped the ball so many times on one of mine.
When I was in Coos Bay/North Bend, the North Bend Safeway had a line as you described. Did not go into the Rite Aid across the street, but noticed the parking lot was always busy. Probably has a lot to do with Bi-Mart closing their pharmacies, and people who cannot or do not want to use Walgreens.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by mbz321 »

I've noticed pretty much every Rite Aid in my area (Philly suburbs) has shortened both their Pharmacy and store hours. The one in my town that has been 24 Hours in my town for years is now closing at midnight (CVS in town was also 24 hours, but they also cut back to midnight last year). Looking around, locations seem to have varying opening times between 7/8/9 AM. and Closing at 9/10/11/12 at night. A few, what I imagine super low-volume locations are 9 am - 9 pm (and one where the store closes at 6 on Saturdays!)
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: November 4th, 2021, 5:04 pm
buckguy wrote: November 4th, 2021, 5:55 am CVS managers still seem to have a lot of autonomy. The two 24 hour stores near me have very different selections of things like junk food and seasonal items and it doesn't seem to be a matter of space---one is bigger than the other but the aisle space for those items is about the same. The smaller store is within walking distance of six hotels (one is next door, another is across the street and the others a moment or two further) and clearly marketed for visitors.

Managers and pharmacists also have autonomy for controversial things like offering overdose prevention kits, clean needles & syringes (where they are legal) and what kinds of tests to offer in their Minute Clinics (pregnancy and HIV tests aren't a given). Walgreens has similar policies for the clinics. I would imagine that vaccine programs probably include optional components----they always seem to advertise flu but not necessarily shingles.
They still give some merchandising autonomy in the types of locations you are describing but in the typical suburb/strip mall type location, there is not much autonomy at all. It also seems like CVS has frequent changes in store managers either through attrition or moving around; and pharmacies float between stores often. For instance one CVS I go to often was run by a long term former Sav-On manager for about 5 years and since that person left it has had 3 different store managers in less than a year. There is one CVS I know of that still has the same manager as it had when it was a Longs but any merchandising autonomy there is either not allowed or not being utilized.

As far as the manager and pharmacist discretion on controversial things, that is difficult for customer expectation consistency for a chain to allow that, and with as large as CVS is I am surprised if their official policy really leaves it up for individual employee discretion. I guess until all of the employees are replaced by self serve kiosks this sort of thing will happen. Then the decision will be up to whoever/whatever programs the kiosk. Hopefully the kiosk won't change its opinion based on some facial recognition. Yikes.
CVS Managers are powerless. Their autonomy starts and ends with dialing their Regional Operations Manager and asking them to have the company look at assigning an already existing planogram that may support some area of their customer base that they identified. If the company approves it, which is calculated against payroll expense for the planogram set labor, fixtures if needed, markdowns for outgoing product to make space for what the Store Manager thinks they need, etc. then changes are approved. But they don't want the Store Manager spending too much time thinking about how to run their store at CVS...

This is not the Sav-On days - having hired several ex Sav-On Store Managers I can tell you that CVS pays current Store Managers about 40% less today than Sav-On Store Managers made back when it was Sav-On. Adjusting for inflation they pay less than half. A Sav-On Store Manager in a high volume store could potentially crack six figures in a good year which is way too high for CVS. They went on a manhunt and fired nearly every remaining Sav-On or Osco Store Manager after the merger because they couldn't cut their salary down to CVS levels. Many were fired for trivial alleged violations of new CVS policies they had not even been trained on yet, red tape that seemed to only exist to snare someone the DM wanted gone to cut payroll. Sav-On/Osco had real managers who had to source product and run the store like a real business. Such leaders were unwanted at CVS. CVS is simple, the computer tells them what to do each day and "they're not paid to think, they're paid to execute." They work a task list.
This is why CVS is so bad.
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