Residents: On Island prescription service needed
Residents have spoken and identified the single most significant need they have with respect to their prescription services. They want a means of being able to have their doctors order prescriptions they can pick up on the Island the way they have for years.
They expressed gratefulness to the Town Board and others who have been troubleshooting to identify short-term means of getting prescriptions, but they want a pharmacist they can meet face-to-face to discuss questions that emerge.
The Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy discontinued its prescription service as of Tuesday, and a number of short-term solutions have been set in place. But residents aren’t confident that will meet long-term needs.
They are angry and feel abandoned by the Soloviev Group that purchased the Island’s only pharmacy a few years ago only to announce with just a week’s notice that the prescription part of the operation would end.
An update from Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams at Tuesday’s Town Board work session told them that Sag Harbor Pharmacy would provide delivery service door-to-door five days a week, while Greenport’s Colonial Drug will deliver free, seven days a week at the end of each day. South Ferry President Cliff Clark said he would give the pharmacy deliveries the lowest fare price possible to help his fellow Islanders.
Councilman Gordon Gooding said he spoke Tuesday morning with a representative of the Soloviev Group that owns the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy and was told that while that store is not for sale, the organization would be willing to lease space to someone interested in operating a prescription service on the Island.
The presence of some 100 people at a community forum about the pharmacy at the Center Firehouse on Sunday showed how Islanders care about one another and are willing to work together to identify solutions.
The supervisor said she doesn’t want Sunday’s mostly positive discussion to fade away with no solutions in place. She said she will be putting together a list of efforts to assign to her Town Board colleagues and others willing to work toward long-range solutions.
When representatives of the owners responded to inquiries from Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, they said the financial decision was necessitated by the loss of $50,000 a month that made it impossible to continue. But the supervisor said her competency as an accountant made her skeptical of a loss that high.
Islanders who showed up at the Center Firehouse Sunday afternoon shared their ideas of short-term and long-term solutions to cope with the end of prescription services on the Island.
Some could use mail order prescription services, but not all Medicaid recipients have plans that enable that option. Others have moved their prescriptions from the Shelter Island Heights Pharmacy to drug stores on the North or South forks.
Seniors 60 and older can use a Senior Services van that can enable them to travel to off-Island drug stores. The van is provided through a grant funded by the County Shopping Assistance Program that can make stops at drug stores for seniors to pick up their prescriptions. Senior Services also has a grant-funded AAA Transportation Program, again for those 60 or older, provided for doctor visits and that can be extended to those who need to pick up prescriptions.
Many at the forum acknowledged their fears about not having an on-Island pharmacist to answer questions patients may have about their medications and no emergency services on weekends. Some said they would have to call on EMS volunteers or paid paramedics who serve Islanders.
One person called having an on-Island pharmacy “an essential service.”
There were also concerns since the close down of prescription services comes at a time when Dr. Joshua Potter, who has been serving Islanders at the Medical Center, is to be in the office only two days a week with other medical personnel staffing that office on the other three days.
The changes at the Medical Center by Stony Brook University Hospital, which has provided much of the medical service there since Dr. Peter Kelt has cut back his hours, leaves them feeling they have no medical services on which they can rely. No one will get to know their needs on a regular basis, they said.
Among the suggestions about a long-term solution heard Sunday are:
• Reaching out to Stony Brook to see what it might be able to do, including the possibility of having a pharmacist at the Medical Center handling prescription distribution; Deputy Supervisor Meg Larsen said she has reached out to Stony Brook with questions and expected some guidance from officials there by Tuesday
• Using a van equipped by qualified personnel to bring prescriptions to the Island and rendering pharmaceutical support services to patients
• Reaching out to State and County officials to see what assistance they may be able to render
• Exerting pressure on the Soloviev Group to render some assistance
• Getting many more volunteer drivers who could retrieve medications or drive patients to and from North and South pharmacies to retrieve their prescriptions
• Use a vacant building to operate a prescription business serving Islanders
There were also questions about how other small communities handle prescription services. Laurie Fanelli from the Senior Services office said Block Island and Fishers Island have an arrangement with pharmacies in Newport and a boat delivers prescriptions to both those communities.
Former councilman and co-chairman of the Town’s Health & Wellness Committee Jim Colligan urged residents to be civil but show strength in an effort to get those with power to help solve the problem.
The Reporter will continue to post updates to this story on its website on a regular basis going forward on this ongoing issue. The Town website will also be updating its website as new information becomes available.
