UPDATE: Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy to stop filling prescriptions

News has reached the Reporter that prescription service at the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy will be shut down entirely as of October 7.

This will leave Islanders with no local access to fill prescriptions.

A letter is being sent to customers, and that is also available at the store, providing other information on off-Island pharmacies where prescriptions can be filled.

The Reporter is awaiting more information from a public relations firm that the Pharmacy manager, Lisa Hashagen, referred the Reporter to, which has not returned email requests for comment.

As word spread of the impending close, customers began to come by the Pharmacy for confirmation. Their reactions ranged from calm planning, to concern, to consternation. Some asked how to go about transferring prescriptions and were handed a letter that was going out to all customers today, Sept. 27, with a list of pharmacies.

One customer, Cristina Peffer, said she’d had to go to the pharmacy last week when she had a high fever, and wouldn’t have been able to travel to a pharmacy off-Island. She expressed concern that elderly people as well as those who were ill would suffer as a result. Another customer lamented the way that the Island was changing. 

Several expressed relief to hear that Suzanne Scott and Greg Ofrias, who had run the pharmacy for decades, had stepped up to ensure that prescriptions could be filled at their Southold Pharmacy. They have a limited delivery service to the Island currently, and customers at the store and on social media expressed hope that deliveries could be arranged to serve the Island’s large elderly population.

The staff assured customers that the rest of the store would remain open, with the soda fountain, a beloved meeting spot for generations, continuing to serve food, beverages and ice cream. 

Saturday morning, Lois Draegin stopped by the Pharmacy to pick up a newspaper. Several women ahead of her were picking up prescriptions. The pharmacist came out and told one woman that her medication wouldn’t be available until early next week. Then, Ms. Draegin recalled, the pharmacist said she might as well also tell her now, that as of Oct 7, the pharmacy would no longer be filling prescriptions. 

The two women were in shock. The pharmacist was clearly upset, and had no explanation, other than attributing the decision to the owners, the Soloviev Group.

Here is the letter being sent to customers and that is also available at the store:

Dear Customer,

This letter is to inform you that the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy will be permanently closing effective October 7, 2025 (the “Closing Date”).

[Note. Ms.Hashagen reiterated that just prescription services will cease Oct. 7. The soda fountain and merchandise areas will remain open.]

We are providing this written notice to ensure that you have adequate time to make arrangements for any ongoing prescription needs.

You may choose to transfer your prescriptions to a pharmacy of your choice at any time prior to the Closing Date. For your convenience, we have listed several nearby pharmacies below:

Southold Pharmacy

53895 Main Road, Southold NY. 11971

631-765-3434

Cutchogue Barth’s Pharmacy

28195 Main Road, Cutchogue, New York, 11935

631-734-6796

Colonial Drugs & Surgicals

100 Front Street, Greenport, NY. 11944

631-477-1111

Greenport Drugs LLC

74825A Main Road

Greenport. NY. 11944

631-477-1222

Sag Harbor Pharmacy

120 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY. 11963

631-725-0074

White’s Apothecary

20 Main Street, Sag Harbor, NY. 11960

631-808-9090

To transfer your prescription(s),  please contact the pharmacy of your choice directly using the contact information above. Any prescriptions that have not been transferred by the close of business on the Closing Date will be automatically transferred to the following pharmacy to ensure continuity of care:

Southold Pharmacy 

53895 Main Road, Southold, NY. 11971

631-765-3434 

If you have any questions regarding this closure, prescription transfers, or your medical records, please contact us at 631-749-0445.

Thank you for allowing us to serve you.

Sincerely, The Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy Team

Deputy Town Supervisor Meg Larsen posted on the Reporter’s Facebook page: “This will be a hardship and a burden for many people. I am working with the Senior Center to see how we can help our seniors get the meds they need while we try to sort out a solution for this profound loss. I’m also working on sorting this out for everyone else, too, not just seniors.”

More news will be published when it becomes available.