The abrupt closure of the K-Mart Pharmacy at Tutu Park Mall has raised questions about timely notice to patients about the sudden change. The pharmacy — in operation on St. Thomas since the store first opened in 1995 — closed on Sept. 16.
Those questions became more pronounced with the end-of-the-month arrival of letters from K-Mart’s corporate headquarters in Illinois saying, “As you may be aware, our pharmacy will be closing on Tuesday, September 16th.”
Both the letter and a sign posted to the glass partition where customers used to pick up medications directed them to visit the Walgreens Pharmacy across the road in Anna’s Retreat.
Even the administrators at a medical center inside the mall said they were caught off guard by word of the closure. But Diane Morales, executive assistant to the medical director at St. Thomas East End Medical Center, said staffers there had no advanced notice of the closure.
Questions sent to media services at Transform KM, LLC, asking how many customers were affected by the closure went unanswered. A spokesperson at Walgreens’ corporate headquarters did respond to a press inquiry, but said they could not disclose how many K-Mart Pharmacy patient records were sent over.
“I would encourage you to reach out to K-Mart’s communications team as we do not have those details,” said Senior Specialist Jennifer Coto.
But Coto said the company acknowledged the receipt of pharmacy records. “We welcome patients from any pharmacy and are proud to offer a wide array of healthcare and pharmacy services,” she said.
Newly transferred customers to Walgreens may experience changes at the cash register. National and regional discounts offered by K-Mart Pharmacy no longer apply, but information found online suggests there are discount options available at Walgreens.
Morales said East End Clinic patients are among those who stand to benefit. “The reason why that benefits us as a facility is that we are part of the 340B Pharmacy Program; we are actually the only entity on St. Thomas that has the 340B Pharmacy Pro Discount Program,” Morales said. “I’m able to give them a card that identifies them as our patient and allows them to get the 340 pricing.”
Two other St. Thomas pharmacies — Tradewinds Pharmacy in Red Hook and the Medicine Shoppe at Havensight Mall — also partner with East End Clinic through the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program, the administrator said.
Medicine Shoppe pharmacist Kelly Edens said her shop is eager to welcome former K-Mart customers. “We try to encourage many people in the community to come here and let them know this pharmacy is able to provide extras that the other pharmacies can’t,” Edens said. “We have a robot that fills medications, we have special equipment to keep an eye on everyone’s meds to make sure they don’t have interactions.”
Medicine Shoppe is one of four small, independent shops that fill prescriptions on St. Thomas aside from the larger stores that are part of national retail chains. But some of the other smaller shops have reportedly expressed interest in welcoming K-Mart pharmacy customers as well.
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