Planned Parenthood opens its first community pharmacy in the nation in Akron Thursday to combat the trend of pharmacy closings while preserving the role of pharmacists in patient health care.
Surveys and studies by organizations including the National Community Pharmacists Association show that pharmacies are closing nationwide due to falling prescription drug reimbursement rates. Fifteen towns in Ohio are now pharmacy deserts, meaning they’re located at least 10 miles away from a retail pharmacy, according to data from TelePharm.
While the new Akron facility is open to all residents, it was inspired by concerns that members of the state's transgender community were having difficulty obtaining health care, said Christopher Smurthwaite, director of pharmacy at Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio.
"What brought the idea about is Planned Parenthood Greater Ohio looking into reducing the barriers for patients that are having issues with their pharmacies and filling medications, especially as we started to emerge as a go-to organization for gender-affirming care," he said. "We were identifying that patients were having issues, not only filling their medications, but getting the correct supplies and unfortunately, also having to deal with the social stigma of filling gender-affirming care products."
TransOhio’s Dara Adkison said the move is a welcome development.
“Access to health care is an enormous issue everywhere in Ohio, in the country," they said. "Access to gender-affirming care is even harder and increasingly more difficult and stigmatized. Any place that helps make that easier for folks is a huge positive.”
The problem is that fewer pharmacies means longer drives and longer wait times, whether it's for transgender communities or anyone else, Adkison said.
"For gender-affirming care, access for hormone replacement therapy, where people need to drive 45 minutes to an hour just to get their blood work done, that kind of access is preposterous," they said. "And that's for other kinds of care, too. Let's say you need to get a heart evaluation. You're also driving 45 minutes to an hour."
Greater access to pharmacists helps with patients' health, Smurthwaite added.
"The pharmacist is the most accessible health care provider," he said. "You don't make an appointment to see us. You can call me and ask me questions. You can consult with me on site."
Losing this access often coincides with patients taking their prescription medications less frequently, Smurthwaite said. Pharmacy care helps them stick to a routine.
"A lot of medications that are routine medications, maintenance medications — blood pressure, cholesterol type medications — you do start to see a waning of the adherence that these patients have to these medications," Smurthwaite explained.
Akron was chosen as the test site because it has the capacity to serve as a central hub, holding medications for other Planned Parenthood locations throughout the state, Smurthwaite said. The plan is to expand beyond Akron in the next year or two while using this effort as a blueprint for Planned Parenthood sites across the country.
