Hope Wellness Pharmacy needs community support

The Hope Wellness Pharmacy continues its fight to provide the town with a local drug store, and needs the public to continue its support.

At last week's Town Council meeting, pharmacist Tim Jarnagin updated the council on efforts to keep the local pharmacy viable.

Jarnagin stressed that Hope is lucky to have an independent pharmacy, as many area communities do not have that opportunity. For example, Edinburgh has no hometown pharmacy and neither does Jarnagin's hometown of Taylorsville. He said that sort of operation is a dying breed. 

He said there are several reasons for the struggle, primarily the fact that small pharmacies can not get as good of deals from suppliers as the larger chains. And that because of insurance issues, pharmacies tend to lose money on one out of every five prescriptions filled. A large pharmacy can make up for those losses through larger sales volume, but a small pharmacy does not have that option.

One of the biggest efforts to keep the pharmacy upright is the institution of a "tele-pharmacy" operation where a pharmacist is on site only a few days a week, and the rest of the time pharmacist consultations and staff supervision are done remotely from the Bloomington pharmacy under the same ownership. The Hope pharmacy is allowed to operate under those provisions because of the distance to the next nearest pharmacy, combined with the population and income characteristics of the town.

Jarnagin stressed that he sees the importance of keeping the pharmacy operational, as so many Hope customers are of limited finances or have reduced mobility and no way to pick up prescriptions otherwise. 

He also praised the efforts of local pharmacy employee Teresa Turner and her dedication to the community.

He said that the pharmacy continues to fight for survival, but it is developing partnerships and new services that will help with viability. For example, the pharmacy is making deals with Miller's Merry Manor and with Windrose Health to shore up the bottom line. And they are contemplating a delivery service that could go as far as Columbus, delivering medication door-to-door. 

Council member Clyde Compton said he uses the pharmacy and has been very happy with the service and its convenience.

Anderson Burris Inc. opened Hope Wellness Pharmacy in April 2017 to provide pharmacy services to the community of Hope and surrounding areas. It operates out of the former bank and newspaper offices at 645 Harrison Street. The building, designed by Harry Weese in 1958 and owned by Ken Patton, is the former Irwin Union and First Financial Bank branch building that was then taken over by the Hope Star-Journal. After the closure of the newspaper, the building housed the Hope satellite branch of the Columbus-Area Visitors Center, Heritage of Hope and a gallery by the Hope Art Guild.