EDMONDS — Employees at a pharmacy that has long operated on the campus of Swedish Edmonds hospital have been told the business will close.
Workers have been told Nov. 17 is a target date for closing “but it’s not firm,” said Mary Beth Lowell, a spokeswoman for Swedish.
It is unclear if another business can be brought in to run the pharmacy.
“It’s a very costly service we’re losing money on,” Lowell said. There are a number of other pharmacies in the Edmonds community, she said.
Rachelle Hancock, who has worked as a pharmacy technician at the business for more than 20 years, said retail pharmacy employees have been told the closing date may be extended past Nov. 17, but they don’t know how much longer the Pavilion Pharmacy will remain open.
Workers originally were told of the plans to close the pharmacy in August, she said.
However, there are no signs posted to tell customers of the pending change, she said. “A lot of patients will be blindsided,” Hancock said.
Workers weren’t given the chance to suggest ways to build the business rather than end it, she added.
When employees initially were told of the plans to close the pharmacy, it had just over 30 employees, Lowell said. Since then, a small number have left. Swedish is working with the Edmonds employees and their union, SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW, to help them look for other positions within Swedish, Lowell said.
Discussions are under way to see if a retail pharmacy could be brought in to lease the space, but no details have been firmed up, Lowell said.
Swedish also plans to close its other pharmacies on its Cherry Hill and Issaquah campuses as well as two pharmacies at its First Hill campus later this year, but there’s no date set for that to happen, Lowell said.
The pharmacy on the Swedish Edmonds campus has a three-decade-long history in the community. It was originally opened in 1985 as Hadfield’s Pharmacy. Hancock said she was its original pharmacy technician. The pharmacy was sold to the former Stevens Hospital in 1996. Swedish took over operation of Stevens Hospital in 2010.
The pharmacy makes deliveries to patients who aren’t able to come to the pharmacy and also has compounding services on site, Hancock said.
Swedish is not the first health care organization to drop its retail pharmacy operations in Snohomish County. In 2013, The Everett Clinic sold two of its pharmacies to Bartell Drugs and closed a third pharmacy at Harbour Pointe.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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