After months of complaints and five-hour wait times, Madigan pharmacy implements changes
After months of patient complaints and extended wait times at the pharmacy, Madigan Army Medical Center is making significant changes, Col. Christopher Warner, Madigan’s commander, told The News Tribune.
Earlier this month, after a staff member was exposed to COVID-19, the pharmacy was short-staffed, which caused patients to wait up to five hours for medicine. Pharmacy staffing returned to normal last week, and the average wait time was 1-2 hours.
That’s still too long, Warner said.
The colonel said he knows the issues at the pharmacy didn’t just start, but that’s been the case since the COVID-19 pandemic caused them to switch to drive-thru only delivery of prescriptions. Before COVID-19, patients could use the 16 walk-up windows inside Madigan or the two drive-thru windows.
As of July 2019, the average wait time at the pharmacy was 20 to 30 minutes, a standard of which Warner hopes to return.
Patients are now able to get refills at either Madigan’s drive-thru pharmacy or the McChord Clinic pharmacy. Warner said refills will be available at the Puyallup and South Sound satellite pharmacy’s “imminently.”
“We’re also working on a number of technology solutions to deliver the best possible care,” Warner said. Those solutions include a text messaging service to let patients know when their prescriptions are available and a possible no-contact, walk-up delivery system outside.
Warner also acknowledged that EScripts, one of the alternative prescription services they’ve been encouraged to use, has barriers. While families of active-duty service members and retirees can get their medicine free of charge from Madigan or one of the clinic pharmacies, EScripts charges a co-pay. Active-duty service members do not pay that co-pay.
“We recognize the barrier of the co-pay and we want to continue to make the pharmacy experience better for those who want to use it,” Warner said.
Madigan is also in the process of building an additional satellite pharmacy at Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s new Post Exchange, set to open in early 2021.
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 2:17 PM with the headline "After months of complaints and five-hour wait times, Madigan pharmacy implements changes."
