PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Richard Ost has operated the Philadelphia Pharmacy in Kensington for nearly 40 years. The pandemic has made an already important part of the community even more essential — especially for those who can’t easily get to it.
But even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Ost was facing a harsh reality.
“We’re going to lose a ton of money this year, and that’s with me not taking a salary,” he said.
The business was already suffering this year because of low reimbursement contracts. By March, he was looking at another problem.
“Our business prior was 10% delivery, 90% walk-in. Today, it’s the exact opposite: 90% delivery, 10% walk-in. We had one person before who worked in delivery. We now have four full-time people that are working in delivery,” he said.
Many of the people his pharmacy serves face a number of barriers, including low incomes and underlying medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the coronavirus.
So, he decided to adjust his business to offer what the community needs: hand-delivered lifesaving medications.
“We’ve been here 37 years, so I’m not just going to walk away from this community. I’m saying thank you to the community by doing this because I am standing by them when they need me the most,” he said.
Yasmilhette Mercado has stepped up to manage the nearly 150 deliveries a day.
“There (are) no buses running. A lot of people don’t even want to take the risk to come out,” Mercado said.
Because delivering prescriptions on doorsteps would risk them being stolen, she and the other drivers ensure medications are handed off directly to customers or relatives. And for that, she said, people are thankful.
“All these people are blood pressure, diabetes, asthma — they need their medicines. Without their medicines, they can’t survive. If we are not here to deliver those medicines, it would be a big problem,” she said.
Ost and other independent neighborhood pharmacists in the city have stepped up to offer a free hotline to help patients who have problems getting their medications, regardless of where they live or whether they come to one of the pharmacies regularly.
“We are nowhere near the health care heroes right now. The health care heroes are the people in hospitals dealing with the patients with COVID-19,” Ost said. "We’re a little wheel on the cog, but all we're doing is picking up what we're supposed to do. We’re not being forced to do this, we're not being paid to do this, we're doing what people who are involved in a community want to do, and that’s help their community."
The Philadelphia Pharmacy hotline is available every day, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 215-934-9412.