Pharmacy Update 11/1/23

​It has been about 6 weeks since the Genoa Pharmacy opened here in Gualala in the Sea Watch Building across the street from RCMS Gualala Clinic. It is time to provide some updates to the community.

This Pharmacy was built from the ground up, and had to open its doors before we were allowed to apply for some of the licenses and contracts required by law. As such, these first weeks were spent getting in place the needed contracts with Medicare and other private insurance companies so that we can serve their members. We are still working on getting the MediCal contract finalized. These requirements were beyond our control in that we had to work through Government Agencies.

We also had to purchase prescription medications from wholesalers who could come to Gualala only once or twice each week due of the remoteness of our location. Additionally, it has been difficult to recruit the necessary pharmacy staff in the face of a limited candidate pool, housing difficulties, etc. These issues have slowed down operational goals for our pharmacy somewhat.

We held a COVID vaccination clinic recently – but encountered significant difficulties in getting real-time insurance approvals.

But, we are beginning to get over the bumps in the road:

• Besides a pharmacist, we now have a pharmacy clerk starting this week.
• We have established contracts with Medicare and most major private insurances (we are still working through Medical).
• We continue to build the inventory of drugs from the suppliers. Besides commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals we are also stocking up on antibiotics, Children’s medications, and Cold and Flu medications.
• To date, we have registered more than 100 patients and transferred their prescriptions. We have successfully filled more than 200 prescriptions.
• We will be receiving more vaccines – COVID, high dose flu, Shingles, and others. We plan to schedule another vaccination clinic at the pharmacy soon. We are addressing the insurance approval issues for vaccinations that were unexpectedly encountered at the first clinic.
• Our pharmacy partner, Genoa Healthcare, is bringing in more resources to Gualala to address many of the start-up issues. Genoa is a large 700-pharmacy national chain, fully committed to making our local pharmacy a success.

​We appreciate your patience and understanding as we go through this process.

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