Photos: Walgreens
Washington, D.C. (Mar. 28, 2024)—Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) sent a letter to Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth urging the pharmacy chain to reverse its decision to close its store in North City on Grand Boulevard in St. Louis. This comes after last year’s closure of two Walgreens stores on Gravois Avenue and South Grand Boulevard.
In her letter, Congresswoman Bush explains that these closures further exacerbate the issue of pharmacy deserts in her district. A pharmacy desert is defined as a geographic area that is not serviced by any pharmacies within a radius of one mile, or a half mile in areas where residents have limited access to transportation. Nearly 45,000 people in the City of St. Louis live more than a mile away from a pharmacy, and 53% of those people are Black.
“As a result of the large market share Walgreens and other big-box pharmacies have, local, community-based pharmacies have often been forced to close or drastically reduce their services rendered,” wrote Congresswoman Bush. “A closure of a large pharmacy would only make matters worse. The most medically vulnerable patients in our communities include people with disabilities, seniors, and low-income residents. With this most recent closure, countless patients will lose access to their neighborhood pharmacy, which means potential gaps in procuring lifesaving prescriptions and over-the-counter medications.”
“I saw the devastating effects of pharmacy closures firsthand and how it negatively impacted my constituents,” continued Congresswoman Bush. “This will particularly impact people with mobility or transportation barriers, or those who do not have reliable internet access or fluency to order online. Our most marginalized community members—our unhoused neighbors—are unable to take advantage of temporary stop-gaps proposed by Walgreens, such as 1-2 day prescription delivery because they do not have a fixed address. We need permanent solutions, rather than temporary.”
Congresswoman Bush requested a response from Walgreens to the following questions by next week, Friday, April 5:
- Will Walgreens reverse the decision to close its store located at 1400 N Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63106?
- How many Medicare and Medicaid recipients has this location serviced in the last 90 days?
- What are the metrics used to determine which Walgreens pharmacies remain open in an urban area?
- How, if at all, does Walgreens solicit community, local, state, and federal stakeholders’ feedback about the impact of potential pharmacy closures prior to plans being announced?
- Within the next 12 calendar months, does Walgreens plan to close any more storefront locations in either the St. Louis region or the state of Missouri?
- How does Walgreens plan to reduce the number of residents living in pharmacy deserts in St. Louis and ameliorate the impact of this closure on the most vulnerable residents in the long-term?
A full copy of this letter can be found HERE.
