CLEVELAND — Over the years, News 5 has covered the closing of grocery stores in certain neighborhoods and their departures, creating food deserts for the people of those communities. But what happens when pharmacies begin to shutter as well?
For residents of Cleveland's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, that question could soon be a reality as the CVS on the corner of Kinsman Road and MLK Jr. Drive is slated to close on July 18.
The building itself has no signs up announcing a closure. Customers learned of the news when they went in to pick up some things from the drugstore or fill a prescription.
"They told me I can’t get my prescriptions anymore here. Cause I got my last ones here already so I got to go to Shaker," said one resident outside of the store on Friday. "So when I need it, if they don’t change, they don’t close, I’m going to have to go up there and get it."
With prescriptions already being transferred to surrounding CVS locations, residents are currently trying to figure out how they'll get their medications. For some, it's as easy as driving eight minutes up the road to CVS on Shaker Square, where the prescriptions are being transferred. For others, that's not possible.
Another concern surrounding the closure is the impact that it would have on the senior citizens who reside at Ivy Plaza Apartments, a senior housing building right next door to the CVS.
"[Imagine] Mrs. Jones, on her walker, walking up Kinsman in six feet of snow to get to wherever that nearest pharmacy is—I don’t know where it’s at—but can you imagine her doing that when she could take five minutes, come over here to make it happen? It’s just not fair," said Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church pastor Jimmy Gates.
The concern over those who walk to the Kinsman CVS is shared by many. The RTA bus route that travels down Kinsman Road doesn't go to Shaker Square. Paratransit availability and reliability for those with disabilities is another concern.
"For the most part they’d have to pay someone to take them for a ride because you can’t ride your wheelchair," said community leader Tamara Chappell.
Ward 4 councilwoman Deborah Gray was among other community leaders who stood outside the Kinsman Road CVS on Friday to protest the scheduled closure of the pharmacy.
"There’s a lot of people over here that can’t get to it," a resident in the parking lot said, expressing concerns over the location where prescriptions are being transferred.
"Right but that’s our point, we know a lot of people can’t get to that one over there and that’s why we’re standing here fighting to keep this one," Gray responded.
The group has reached out to state and city officials, hoping to get them to make a push to keep the CVS on Kinsman Road open.
News 5 reached out to CVS Pharmacy about the planned closure of the Kinsman Road location and received the following statement:
We’ve made the difficult decision to close the CVS Pharmacy at 10825 Kinsman Road in Cleveland on July 18. All prescriptions will be transferred to the CVS Pharmacy at 13215 Shaker Square to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care. Patients can always choose to fill their prescriptions at any CVS Pharmacy, or the pharmacy of their choice, if another is more convenient. Employees are being offered comparable roles within the company.
Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions. Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.
We’ll continue to provide the community with outstanding service at our 10 CVS Pharmacy locations in Cleveland, including two located inside Target stores. We also offer prescription home delivery service to eligible patients through CVS.com and the CVS Pharmacy app to provide additional convenient access to medications.
The closing of drugstores is a trend popping up around the country.
Last month, Walgreens announced that roughly 25% of its stores aren’t profitable, and the company's strategic review will “include the closure of a significant portion of these underperforming stores.” After filing for bankruptcy last year, Rite Aid is closing dozens of stores, including 15 in Ohio.
Reasons for the closures can be attributed to a number of things, including low reimbursement rates from pharmacy benefit managers—the middlemen between drug companies, insurers, and pharmacies—keeping most of the rebates. Other factors have included shoplifting, inflation and the impact of the opioid crisis.
RELATED: Why are national pharmacy chains closing some locations?
But for Mount Pleasant residents set to see their neighborhood pharmacy close, those reasons aren't good enough and they believe all hold solutions that could keep the CVS open.
"That's not an excuse for them to leave our community because we're not at fault of that. Save our pharmacies, save our businesses," Gray said.
With the July 18 closing date quickly approaching, residents plan to keep pushing for support in keeping the pharmacy doors open.
"This is essential for people's health and well-being. We need to do everything we can to let CVS that you just don’t depart a neighborhood like Mount Pleasant," said community supporter Mary Boyle.
