Heppner is one of many towns across Oregon with limited access to prescription drugs. A recent analysis from Oregon State University suggests that the lack of pharmacy services may be boosting the rates of hospital re-admissions among seniors, at great cost to both patients and the health care system.
In a story in the Bend Bulletin, Ann and John Murray, owners of Murray’s Drugs in Heppner, talk about the challenges of operating a mom-and-pop pharmacy in rural Oregon.
Some Murray’s Drug customers must travel three hours round trip to pick up their medications. If someone forgets or has trouble making the trip, the Murrays are often there to close the gap. Two months ago, a patient in Fossil had run out of medications, so the Murrays sent an employee from their Condon store on a two-hour delivery trip.
“That’s the kind of stuff we do in rural areas,” he said. “It doesn’t pay not to help people.”
According to the Bulletin story, rural hospitals do what they can to help patients but are often limited in how much medication they can provide at discharge. Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner has a drug room that supplies medications for inpatient or emergency room patients, said Pioneer CEO Bob Houser. “They can get most of their pharmacy fills here if they are sent home on a weekend when Murray’s Drug is closed,” he said.
Researchers found that while pharmacies in Portland were open more than 3,800 hours each week, some rural areas had only a single pharmacy, open 54 hours per week.
“There’s only two 24-hour pharmacies in the state of Oregon, and both are in the Portland area,” said David Lee, an OSU assistant professor of pharmacy and senior author of the study. “So if you need medication at kind of an odd hour, the only place you can do it is Portland.”
For the full story, visit the Bulletin website.
