RICHMOND, Va. — New research shows some of Virginia's most vulnerable populations are losing their neighborhood pharmacies, creating what are called "pharmacy deserts."
A study published in the Journal of American Pharmacists Association pinpointed 51 pharmacy deserts using census data. The study suggests 44 of those 51 locations could each serve more than 10,000 residents in need.
"The 51 pharmacy deserts that we identified are in areas that have higher proportion of Black residents, higher proportions of uninsured individuals or individuals with only Medicare or Medicaid, with lower household incomes, median household incomes, so areas with greater poverty," said Teresa Salgado, the Director of VCU's Center for Pharmacy Practice Innovation, who helped author the study.
The study reflects national trends that show pharmacies leaving areas where a major portion of the population is under or uninsured.
"One of the main reasons is the low reimbursement rates that pharmacies receive. So, at this point, they pay more for the medications than they are able to be reimbursed, and so that really places a financial strain on these pharmacies and their viability," Salgado said.
According to a map of pharmacy deserts in Virginia, several are in Richmond, including Manchester, Fulton, and near North Highland Park.
"These pharmacy deserts areas really are happening where other healthcare access is compromised, where other healthcare facilities are not there," Salgado said.
Earlier this month, a nonprofit medical center, Capital Area Health Network, shuttered its locations in both Manchester and Fulton, due to "federal restrictions," according to an internal memo shared from its directors.
WATCH: The reason several Richmond medical centers have abruptly closed
Now, both Manchester and Fulton areas have severely limited access to a medical center or pharmacy.
"So, we’re the only part of the city that doesn't have a grocery store or some place to get some type of fresh food, an ATM, a bank, a pharmacy, a bank, a public school, or a public library. And now we don’t have healthcare in the neighborhood anymore," said Breanne Armbrust, the Executive Director of the Neighborhood Resource Center in Fulton.
The center is a hub for services, Armbrust said, that was born out of necessity. And now with the closure of CAHN's Greater Fulton location, residents are turning to the center to get connected to health care services.
"We have a lot of community members who don’t have transportation that utilize CAHN that walk to that center, and we made a lot of referrals to them because they do such a good job at culturally competent care, and so they understand the population that they serve quite well, and for mental health care, which is a huge issue in any community right now, people can no longer go within their neighborhood to get psychiatric care," Armbrust said. "Now they're going to have to travel and take under an effort to maybe get on a bus and it might take a couple of hours just to make the trip to a doctor's appointment, and is someone likely to do that if they're not feeling well or struggling?"
Salgado said not having access to a nearby pharmacy can prevent vulnerable populations from receiving preventative care or having a healthcare professional that they can talk to face-to-face.
“In addition to that, pharmacies offer preventative care services, such as immunizations, which is what the public knows more, but they offer other services, like test to treat, for example, if you have a UTI, you are able be tested at the pharmacy and then receive the corresponding antibiotic to go with it, or strep throat, or oral contraception, there are various services that pharmacies provide and are really a support to those communities, so when a pharmacy goes away, so do those services, and the ability to access those preventative care services," Salgado said. "It really places these already vulnerable communities at even greater risk of negative health outcomes."
The study suggests legislators create policy that may "incentivize building brick-and-mortar pharmacies in underserved areas" by providing incentives, simplifying the process to open a pharmacy, and establishing public-private partnerships with health systems or universities to build pharmacies.
Both Salgado and Armbrust said they hope lawmakers take the data, and the stories of the struggling to get services, to make changes.
“It just shows that these areas are highly vulnerable and in high need and we need to take action, and we need to take action now," Salgado said.
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