×

Hy-Vee’s pharmacy expands

Staff from former Hy-Vee Drug Store merge with main store

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari Jill Shoopman, a certified pharmacy technician at the Hy-Vee pharmacy, looks through prescriptions that are ready for a customer to pick up. The pharmacy recently expanded.

The pharmacy at Hy-Vee has recently undergone an expansion as a way of improving its service to its customers.

Opening on Jan. 1, the remodeled pharmacy, located within the food store at 115 S. 29th St., is much larger than its predecessor, according to Tim Flaherty, Hy-Vee store director.

“We probably made it twice the size of the original pharmacy,” Flaherty said.

To expand the pharmacy, Flaherty said the store used space that was previously occupied by the store’s vision center.

“We were the only vision center in the whole company,” he said. “Our decision was we would no longer have the vision center, but we would expand the pharmacy and make it large enough to incorporate the Hy-Vee Drug Store pharmacy as well.”

-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari The staff at the Hy-Vee pharmacy pose for a photo in front of the newly expanded facility. Pictured from left to right, in front of the counter, are certified pharmacy technician Kim Schaeffer, pharmacist Kristi Ugboh, pharmacist Chris Tiernan, certified pharmacy technicians Dianne Grove, Sammi Terranova, Megan Hanna, Jill Shoopman, Stephanie Jones, Lori Dutcher and Belinda Dorman. Behind the counter are pharmacists Tim Bormann, left, and Tom Donner.

While the Hy-Vee Drug Store building, 214 S. 25th St., is now closed, Flaherty said the drug store itself continues to operate out of the main store’s pharmacy.

“We combined staff, so all the employees that were at Hy-Vee Drug Store are now just here at the Hy-Vee main store pharmacy,” Flaherty said. “Hy-Vee will no longer own that building and we will not operate anything out of the building and it will go back to the landlord.”

This now allows all pharmacy staff to be under the same roof.

“Part of the improvement at both locations is now we have more staff to make sure we’re taking care of all of our customers faster and better, and making sure we have other resources we can use,” Flaherty said. “At times at the drug store, there could be stretches where there was just one pharmacist there the whole day.”

“Now we have all five of them together, so there’s always more than one pharmacist here during the day,” he added. “Technician-wise, we have the technicians who all work together, so if somebody calls in sick, it’s easier to make sure that we’re staffing our customers’ needs.”

Among the improvements to the space include new computers for staff as well as new services for customers.

The expansion allowed the store to create space for long-term care operations.

“We service a lot of nursing homes and other skilled patients,” Flaherty said. “We do all that in the back corner of the pharmacy to where it’s a little quieter.”

In addition, Flaherty said the pharmacy now has a room for counseling with customers. He said this provides a confidential place for customers to talk with staff.

Hy-Vee’s pharmacy also offers a service to its customers who take regular medication.

“If people are on medication they take month after month after month, you could sign up for a repeat refill,” Flaherty said.

For example, Flaherty said if a customer has medication they take every day and has 30 pills at a time, the pharmacy we’ll be notified two days before the medication runs out so they can prepare more of the prescription.

“It’ll be hanging there, so then all you have to do is stop in and pick it up,” he said. “You don’t have to say, ‘I need this refilled.’ It’ll already be done for you.”

Another way of doing that is by calling the pharmacy and entering their prescription number over the phone.

“Dial the phone number and type in the prescription number off the bottle and it’ll be ready for you when you come to pick it up in two days when it runs out,” Flaherty said.

While the pharmacy staff enjoy having advanced notice of prescriptions running out, Flaherty said they still also serve customers who come in to the store requesting medications.

“Our goal is to try and get that done as fast as we can, as fast and safely as we can,” he said, adding it’ll usually take between 15 and 20 minutes to get the medication ready.

“But the nice thing is, you can drop it off, go shop and then swing back over in 20 minutes and if everything’s OK with the script and doctor, we’ll have it ready for you,” Flaherty said.

Since the transition in January, Flaherty said the staff has adjusted well to the changes.

“We’ve merged everyone that worked at both locations,” he said. “They’re all here all doing a super job.”

He said customers have also gotten used to seeing their regular pharmacists at the main store.

“They’re doing a good job and they’re all meshing well with each other,” Flaherty said. “It was a big undertaking and it’s gone well.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today