REGION
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2022
THE OBSERVER — A3
Pharmacies and patients struggle in rural Oregon
who hold licenses in other states
in an attempt to fi ll the void.
Closures, staffing
shortages make
pharmacies less
accessible for many
Oregonians
‘It is life and death in a
pharmacy’
Bi-Mart pointed to increased
costs and declining reimburse-
ments, along with Oregon’s
corporate activity tax, when it
announced its decision to close
its pharmacies last September.
Those closures alone have put
a signifi cant strain on Oregon’s
pharmacy industry.
Bi-Mart had said its patient
fi les would be transferred to
nearby Walgreens locations
and that Walgreens staff would
operate pharmacies within
Bi-Mart locations in areas where
the drug store didn’t have a
nearby location.
But that hasn’t been the case
in many locales. Walgreens is
operating pharmacies inside
only six Bi-Mart stores across
Oregon. While patient fi les have
been transferred to Walgreens
stores in many cities, that still
leaves 31 communities with
fewer pharmacy options than
before. And in locations where
there aren’t any nearby Wal-
greens stores, other pharmacies
have had to pick up the slack.
Jeanne Mendazona, the owner
and pharmacist at Hometown
Drugs in Madras and owner of
three other independent pharma-
cies in Oregon, said she had taken
on many former Bi-Mart patients.
Hometown Drugs and Safeway
are the only two retail pharmacies
operating within the city.
With the infl ux of new
patients and the added respon-
sibility of providing COVID-19
testing and vaccinations on top
of other vaccinations, Menda-
zona said she has often worked
until midnight fi lling prescrip-
tions. That schedule isn’t sus-
tainable, she said, and it could in
fact be dangerous if pharmacists
are asked to continue to take on
more responsibility in the face
of ongoing closures and staffi ng
shortages.
“It is life and death in a phar-
macy,” Mendazona said. “We’re
not making hamburgers. If I put
mustard on your burger and you
don’t like mustard, you’re prob-
ably not going to die.”
By JAMIE GOLDBERG
oregonlive.com
BAKER CITY — Rick Meis
drives an hour and a half through
a winding canyon from his home
in Halfway every six weeks
to pick up his prescriptions at
a Safeway pharmacy in Baker
City.
It’s an onerous process that
has only become tougher. One
local retail pharmacy in Baker
City closed shortly after Meis
moved to the rural Eastern
Oregon community seven
years ago. Last fall, retail chain
Bi-Mart then announced it was
getting out of the pharmacy
business entirely. That left just
fi ve pharmacies in all of Baker
County — two of which are
in hospitals or clinics and less
accessible, and one which Meis
says is currently without a full-
time pharmacist.
The result for customers has
been long lines and difficulty
contacting overworked phar-
macy staff. Meis spent sev-
eral days in December calling
Safeway before he was finally
able to get through to someone
who could tell him his prescrip-
tion was ready. He arrived at
the pharmacy shortly after it
opened but still had to wait 30
minutes to get his medication.
Friends have said they waited
two hours at busier times later
in the day.
“It’s truly a crisis for people
who live rurally, especially older
people,” said Meis, 69.
Between closures and pan-
demic-related staffi ng shortages,
pharmacies are becoming less
accessible to many Oregonians at
a time when their services are in
greater demand than ever.
There are 731 active retail and
hospital pharmacies in Oregon,
according to data provided by
the Oregon Pharmacy Bureau.
Davis Carbaugh/The Observer, File
Bi-Mart announced Sept. 30, 2021, that Walgreens will acquire Bi-Mart’s pharmacy business, including pharmacy patient pre-
scription fi les and related pharmacy inventory of 56 Bi-Mart pharmacies in Oregon, Idaho and Washington. Without a nearby
Walgreens, however, Bi-Mart pharmacy customers in La Grande had to fi nd a local solution for their prescription needs.
That is 41 fewer than in 2016.
Roughly 60% of the counties
in the state have fewer than two
pharmacies per 10,000 residents.
Two, Wheeler and Sherman
counties, don’t have any pharma-
cies at all.
Even before the pandemic,
independent pharmacies said
they were being squeezed by
rising costs and declining reim-
bursement rates that made it
harder to stay open, much less
hire suffi cient staff .
The pandemic has exacer-
bated those issues. Pharma-
cies have become the fi rst stop
for many to receive COVID-19
tests and vaccines, but staffi ng
shortages have made it harder
for pharmacies to keep up with
demand.
“You’re seeing burnout with a
lot of pharmacists in Oregon and
across the country,” said Huy
Hoang, a pharmacy professor at
Pacifi c University and a fl oating
pharmacist for CVS/Target.
“You’re seeing a lot of pharma-
cies closing down, mainly in the
independent pharmacy sector,
and now even the big chains are
having to close some of their
stores because they’re trying to
catch up on two to three weeks
of prescriptions.”
He said independent pharma-
cies have watched their profi t
margins shrink as pharmacy
benefi t managers have reduced
their reimbursements. There’s
little they can do, he said,
because only three corporations
control 75% of the U.S. market,
according to Drug Channels,
a pharmaceutical economics
newsletter.
Open jobs skyrocket
Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron
Wyden has pushed for reform in
the industry and an investigation
into business practices by phar-
macy benefi t managers.
“Pharmacies are one of the
most accessible health care pro-
vider services that communities
have,” Hoang said. “When clo-
sures happen, patients, especially
in rural communities, have to
travel a lot farther for the nearest
health care provider service and
that just makes it more diffi cult
for people to get the care they
need.”
Oregon Employment Depart-
ment estimates indicate that the
number of open jobs at pharma-
cies has skyrocketed during the
pandemic.
There were an estimated 680
postings for pharmacist jobs and
1,303 job postings for pharmacy
technician jobs in Oregon per
year from mid-2019 to mid-2021,
according to an employment
department analysis of online job
posting data from Help Wanted
Online. That compares to an
estimated 211 pharmacist job
postings and 458 pharmacy tech-
nician job postings in a normal
year.
That mirrors what those who
work in the industry have seen
on the ground.
Hoang said there has been a
spike in burned-out pharmacists
and underpaid pharmacy tech-
nicians leaving the industry as
the pandemic has increased the
workload. In some cases, he said,
a lack of technicians is forcing
pharmacists to take on even
more work to keep pharmacies
open.
During the public health
emergency, Oregon is allowing
companies to hire pharmacists
Regional superintendents give
comments on proposed Senate bill
Bill aims to protect
administrators who
refuse to ignore state
mandates and laws
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
EASTERN OREGON
— The Oregon bill that
would protect school super-
intendents from fi rings has
passed in both the Oregon
House and Senate, and now
makes its way to Gov. Kate
Brown for approval. The bill
passed in the Senate 16-7,
on Feb. 10 and in the House
31-25 on Feb. 25.
Senate Bill 1521, which
would protect superinten-
dents from no-cause dis-
missal, was brought about
by recent high-profi le super-
intendent fi rings. The bill
itself explicitly calls out the
prohibition of fi ring super-
intendents who are pres-
sured by a school board to
go against state laws and
mandates, such as what hap-
pened to former Adrian
School District Superin-
tendent Kevin Purnell in
August 2021.
The Senate bill is spon-
sored by the Senate Interim
Committee on Education,
and no individual senator’s
name was attached to the
legislation.
Testimony accompa-
nying the bill showed a large
amount of opposition to the
legislation, mostly from con-
cerned parents arguing that
the bill would diminish local
control of schools.
“I’m certainly a local
control supporter, but then
at the same time we don’t
want superintendents that
are just being let go because
they won’t break the law,”
said Morrow County School
District Superintendent
Dirk Dirksen. “It’s kind of a
catch-22 if you want to look
at it from a
local control
perspective.”
In addition
to the Adrian
school dis-
trict, Albany
Dirksen
and Newberg
districts fi red their superin-
tendents last year. The New-
berg School Board drew ire
for its banning of Pride or
Black Lives Matters sym-
bols in the classroom — and
then fi red its superinten-
dent, Joe Morelock, for not
enforcing the ban. Adri-
an’s former superintendent,
Purnell, was dismissed in
part because he would not
stand rogue against state-
wide mask and vaccination
mandates.
School boards asking
superintendents to disregard
or fl out state laws and man-
dates puts them in “a bad
place,” noted Grant County
ESD Superintendent Robert
Waltenburg.
“We’ve had, occasionally
but not very often, super-
intendents being asked to
act in a way that’s contrary
to legislation,” Waltenburg
said. “When your boss is
asking you to do something
that is illegal, what is your
recourse?”
Dirksen noted that the
new legislation would off er
stability for schools, and
that would be a boon for
students.
“It just is another method
for stability, and as we’ve
experienced this COVID-19
dilemma, one of the most
diffi cult parts is the lack
of stability,” Dirksen said.
“That’s just not good for stu-
dents. I see this as a step in
the right direction in regard
to staff stability.”
The most valuable and
respected source of local news,
advertising and information for
our communities.
www.eomediagroup.com
Mobile
Mobile Service
Service
Outstanding
Computer Repair
Fast &
& Reliable
Reliable
Fast
Open
for
all 24/7
your
Call or Text
Call or Text 24/7
Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831
Dale Bogardus 541-297-5831
Stay up-to-date
Microsoft’
If your with
computer
is s most
advanced
operating
system to date,
in despair
call Outstanding
Windows
11
Computer
Repair!
Desktops and laptops in stock
www.outstandingcomputerrepair.com
Or upgrade yours today for the best security!
Refurbished Desktop & Laptops For Sale
House calls (let me come to you!)
Drop Offs & Remote Services are Available
All credit cards accepted
March
26-27
Saturday 9:00 am–5:00 pm
Sunday
9:00 am–3:00 pm
DESCHUTES COUNT Y
FAIR & EXPO CENTER
REDMOND
•
OREGON
PRESENTED BY
5 Buck Breakfast
SAT. MORNING 8–10
While supplies last
Sponsored by McDonalds
All proceeds to benefit Perfect Balance
KIDS’ ZONE
PROJECTS AND FUN ACTIVITIES
ALL THINGS AGRICULTURE
Clint Johnson Working
Dog Demonstrations
SAT. 11–NOON • SUN. 10–11
Early Day Gas Engine
and Tractor Display
with Demonstrations