Uh-oh.
CNBC headlines: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/
Pharmacy staff from Walgreens, CVS say they’re at a breaking point — here’s what their days look like
The story reports:
“Many pharmacy employees at some of the largest U.S. drugstore chains say they’re reaching a breaking point.
On top of verifying, filling and dispensing prescriptions, pharmacists and support staff are responsible for administering vaccines, fixing insurance issues, transferring prescriptions to other pharmacies and tending to dozens of patients in stores and over the phone, among other tasks. Those workers have said they are concerned that companies like Walgreens and CVS are placing unreasonable demands on them, without providing enough staffing or resources to safely execute tasks.
Frustrated by what they describe as increasing workloads, understaffing and cuts to their hours, pharmacy staff from Walgreens locations around the country and CVS stores in the Kansas City area have walked off the job in recent weeks — and some employees are planning to walk out again from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.
CNBC spoke to employees from both Walgreens and CVS, including a pharmacist, two pharmacy technicians and a store manager, about what their typical workday looks like. The employees, all of whom requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, described ending their shifts exhausted after spending hours juggling dozens of tasks around the pharmacy without enough extra hands to support them.”
For whatever reason, something is afoot in the pharmacy business. Mere blocks from me in Central Pennsylvania, the across-the-street from each other CVS and Rite Aid have now closed. CVS went first, Rite Aid a few months later.
Rite Aid has declared bankruptcy and is fighting to reorganize and survive. No word as to why my nearby CVS is gone. Walgreen’s not around here.
There are other CVS’s here, ditto Rite Aids.
But something of some kind is clearly afoot with these very distinctively American businesses.
Hang on and stock up on band aids and your drug (prescribed!) of choice.