Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Rite Aid stores across the nation are set to close up shop permanently after the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month.
In Western New York alone, 68 stores are set to close as of Wednesday, June 4, impacting more than 700 people who are employed by the company across the region.
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Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein realizes the closure of these Rite Aid stores is a huge loss for the community at large.
"Rite Aid has been a huge partner and has a huge presence in Erie County. They are a major pharmacist in our area," said Dr. Burstein in an interview with WBEN. "Many people, Rite Aid is the only accessible pharmacy for them. Not just people in the rural areas that will otherwise have to travel like 30-40 miles or more to find a pharmacy, but also people in the city that don't have transportation. Right now, they can just walk or take a short bus ride or car ride to the Rite Aid pharmacy. When those close, I'm not sure where those individuals are going to be able to go."
Dr. Burstein says the significant problem with Rite Aids closing in Western New York is the access for people to get their medication, and also access to vaccines.
"We know medications are an essential part of healthcare. There's not just treatment, but it's also prevention. Keep people healthy with diabetes, keep people healthy with high blood pressure. They're big vaccinators in our community, providing COVID vaccines, flu vaccines, RSV vaccines for seniors. They've really just been a champion in our community, and it's going to be a huge loss for us," she said.
The impact of Rite Aid stores closing locally is more than just from a pharmaceutical standpoint.
"There's every employee who's losing their jobs, I feel for them. They're all losing their positions," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. "Rite Aid has locations all across Western New York, many in the City of Buffalo, City of Lackawanna, all the suburbs, and this is going to hurt individuals who relied on that for their prescriptions or just for general shopping. It's not a good thing. It's not a local issue, it's a national issue, but unfortunately, they're closing and as a result of it, thousands of people nationwide, hundreds or more in Erie County alone will lose their positions, which is a terrible thing to have to go through. And it's going to hurt our ability to ensure that we have a healthy community, because they're a primary provider for a lot of folks for their prescriptions, as well as other goods."
Poloncarz and Dr. Burstein are hopeful that residents are able to shift to a new pharmacy that is close by to their home or place of work, but that is not always so easy.
"There are lots of other pharmacies that exist out there, but there has been a lot of contraction in the pharmacy market over the last 20 years," Poloncarz said. "You used to see all these small, little pharmacies, and there's hardly any of those anymore. Now you primarily see them and in large, big box stores. You'll see them in a Walmart, you'll see them in a Target. You'll also see them in the supermarkets like Wegmans and Tops, and then the other ones that do exist, Walgreens and CVS. But it's a lot less pharmacies than we've had in the past, and now with the loss of Rite Aid, that's many more that are taken out of the chain, so to speak, and it's going to make it if not tougher, just more inconvenient for individuals who relied on it in the past."
In conversations with the Pharmacy Association of Western New York, Dr. Burstein says the concerns surround the smaller pharmacies that are now going to be the only available pharmacy in the area, which may be overwhelmed with new patients.
That's why the Erie County Department of Health is looking to help residents mitigate that problem, along with the assistance of local Pharmacy Associations.
"We're working with our New York State Pharmacy Association to map out where the pharmacies are going to exist," Dr. Burstein said.
"And thinking about other possibilities of mail order pharmacies. Many people with their health plans, that's something that could be accessed. So just try to think out of the box, problem solving of what they can do to make sure they stay healthy and have access to the medication they need, not just for acute care and illness, but also for vaccines and for their preventive health care."
Another concern for Poloncarz is the closure of Rite Aid stores will now leave these buildings vacant.
"They're fairly decent-sized buildings. They're not small, because it's not just the pharmacy that was located in the Rite Aid. It was a store itself," he said. "There's a lot of communities that relied on that for more than just pharmaceuticals, that also relied on it for just general food and other types of products. So is a concern, because it's going to impact the tax base. Of course, when you close those buildings, the value of the building is much less."
Poloncarz is hopeful the owners of those buildings and developers will be able to find other types of businesses to go in there, but they're certainly not alone.
"We've also seen, at the same time, a lot of closures of Family Dollars, some of the Dollar Generals. There's a lot more of these medium-sized box facilities that are closing," Poloncarz noted. "They have nothing to do with our market, it's all nationwide issues. And in some of these communities, you could have a Dollar General that just closed right next to a Rite Aid that's closed. So what was three months ago an active retail area is now vacant, and that is a big concern."