Posted on 07/11/2005 8:33:28 AM PDT by Born Conservative
COOLBAUGH TWP. (PA) — Starting today the pharmacist at the Tobyhanna Army Depot pharmacy will be working alone.
After seven years at the facility, Friday was pharmacy technician Wendy Moore’s last day.
After an in-depth analysis by Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point, which oversees the pharmacy, the hospital decided the workload did not demand a second full-time employee, said Maj. Daniel Costigan, M.D., Keller’s chief of preventive medicine.
The pharmacy, which provides drugs to veterans across Northeastern Pennsylvania, was just filling between 20 and 40 prescriptions daily, Maj. Costigan said.
Ms. Moore, though, said she believes the pharmacy fills much more prescriptions, over 100 per day, keeping the two employees more than busy enough.
“He’s going to have to do the job of basically five people,” said Ms. Moore, who handled customer service, filled prescriptions and answered the phone at the pharmacy.
Ms. Moore, of Blakeslee, said she believes the hospital has an ulterior motive for releasing her: closing the pharmacy.
Eliminating her job would create too much work for the pharmacist and hinder the facility’s operation, she said.
“It’s almost like sabotage on their part,” she said.
Some vets angered
Maj. Costigan, though, said the move is based entirely on the workload, and has nothing to do with closing the pharmacy.
The Medical Services Action Plan of 2001 calls for the pharmacy’s closure, he said. When that plan is approved by the Army Surgeon General, the pharmacy would be closed, Maj. Costigan said.
“This plan has been in the works for four years,” he said.
Maj. Costigan said predicting a date for the closure, though, would be “premature.”
The pharmacy’s closure would be the second large change for veterans who use the facility. Three years ago the Tobyhanna Health Clinic ceased being a family practice clinic for the area’s veterans and now operates as an occupational health clinic, serving depot employees with job-related ailments, Maj. Costigan said.
Losing both primary care and the pharmacy services angers some local veterans, like Joseph J. Delappi, of Scranton.
“This is one of the things they promise you when you retire,” said Mr. Delappi, an Air Force veteran.
Maj. Costigan said if and when the pharmacy closes, veterans could have drugs shipped to their homes from the Tricare Mail Order Pharmacy in Philadelphia. The mail-order system would work under the same co-pays currently used at the pharmacy without shipping and handling charges and would provide a greater selection of drugs, he said. Veterans would also receive longer supplies of the medicines and wouldn’t have to drive to the pharmacy, Maj. Costigan added.
But now, just as the pharmacy’s future remains unclear, so does Ms. Moore’s.
“For now, I’m going to the unemployment line,” she said.
Once again, the government should just buy vets a good health care plan, and get out of the business of actually providing health care.
I worked as a tech for years and if the actual # of scripts being filled each day is 20 to 40 there is no reason why one person can't do the job. 100 a day would be a different story.
Apparently the technician made them TOO efficient. Ever been to a VA hospital and waited on a prescription to be filled? It will be AT LEAST 3 hours from the time you hand your prescription in until you are called.
Ms. Moore, though, said she believes the pharmacy fills much more prescriptions, over 100 per day, keeping the two employees more than busy enough.
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Over some given timespan, surely the average number of fills per day is not in the realm of opinion.
Seems like they (the "investigative" writer at least!) should FIRST figure out HOW MANY prescription are getting filled each day.
20? 30? 40? 100?
If only 20 are getting run each day, then the fed government had BETTER shut it down and quit wasting the Army's money hiring useless technicians/pharmacies/military bases.
Or is the purpose of this military base to provide PA (government) jobs to otherwise incapable people?
she has known for several years that the pharmacy was scheduled for closure due to lack of workload. if she cannot produce records or cite figures to show the actual workload of the pharmacy, then the idiot deserves ro be fired.
At the VAMC in Erie, PA it is usually only 30 minutes.
I pass the Tobyhanna base on the way to a very nice country Inn in South Sterling, the Sterling Inn. Have been going there for years, very well run place and in August the State Fair is just up the road. Nice little Pocono area to unwind.
They have a good health care plan for retired/disabled vets--Tricare. Tricare picks up the diff between Medicare and allowed cost and keeps Medicare vets from having to buy a supplement for $100+ per month. It also provides for prescriptions with a copay of $9.00 for a 30 day supply.
Furthermore, with Tricare, a vet can choose his/her physician instead of taking whoever is on duty at the base. Much more convenient for all involved. I know--my husband has Medicare/Tricare. Tricare is just a few years old and before that, my husband had to buy an expensive supplement. Tricare took care of the Army's promise of lifelong medical care for vets without having to drive a 100 miles or so to a VA facility.
The military bases started downsizing civilian care years ago, and now many of even active duty dependents use a form of Tricare.
vaudine
Scranton has a very nice VA facility about 30 miles from the Tobyhanna area. No wonder they decided to close the base facility.
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