RITE Aid announced the closure of dozens of stores in Michigan, significantly impacting local communities that rely on these pharmacies for essential medications and services.
Michigan is home to 184 Rite Aid locations, according to the company’s website, but 136 of them are scheduled to close their doors by the end of the year.
For residents like Cora Petrosky, closures represent more than just inconveniences, they pose a serious threat to her health management.
During a visit to the local Rite Aid at 12 Mile and Hoover Road, a sign informed customers that the pharmacy would close on July 30, with prescriptions being transferred to a nearby Walgreens.
“This is the third time I’ve had to transfer all of my information,” Petrosky told the local ABC affiliate. WXYZ-TV.
“This one doesn’t have everything, I fill my prescriptions at two stores,” she said.
Petrosky, who has undergone significant medical procedures including the removal of half of his colon, emphasized the importance of consistent access to his medications.
“I have to take the medications I need,” she exclaimed.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she continued.
“They’re sending me to Walgreens and I don’t know if they’re going to get my medicine or if I’m going to start all over again and try to find it,” she said, worried about possible delays in receiving it. her prescriptions.
Her concerns extend to the possibility of being forced to order medications by mail, which she fears may be unreliable.
“Sometimes it doesn’t come. What do you do if it doesn’t come? I can’t wait a week because they don’t have it,” Petrosky explained.
Deborah Shomock, another Michigan resident, shared a similar feeling of loss and frustration.
She began using the 12 Mile and Hoover location after her previous Rite Aid at 10 Mile and Van Dyke closed.
“I would go in and get something and they would say, ‘Oh, by the way, you need to get such and such a vaccine’ or ‘it’s time for you to get this’, and it was like, ‘Oh my God. This is so personal that they take the time to remember these types of things,’” she explained.
Detroit resident Laura Axt expressed her dismay at the upcoming closures, highlighting the convenience and friendly service that characterized her local Rite Aid.
“I was really upset because we came to Rite Aid, I get my prescriptions here, it’s close to my house and now we have to travel 5 miles to the next pharmacy,” Axt said.
“It’s going to be a problem, I’m going to have to find another place,” she continued.
As Rite Aid prepares to close most of its Michigan locations, many residents are left in a state of uncertainty, scrambling to find new pharmacies that can meet their needs.
Shomock says he has already adapted to the closures and now relies on Meijer, another store, for his pharmaceutical needs.
“I ended up going back to Meijer because at least they will probably be in business,” she said.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story