A year or so ago, a new pharmacy opened in my neighborhood. Called Scripts, it seemed unlikely to compete with such mega-pharmacies at Walgreen’s or Rite-Aid; and I wondered if it would survive. For example, it wasn’t open 24/7; in fact, it wasn’t open at all on Sunday.
However, my doctor — whose office is less than half a mile from Scripts — recently sent a Hepatitis A&B prescription there for me. So I had little choice but to check it out. In the end, I came away a convert and will most likely use this pharmacy in the future, regardless of its restrictive hours.
What made the difference? Why would I leave the big box Walgreen’s? Simply, it was the personal attention I received from the owner. There had been some confusion about the cost of the injections involved, as well as what are called administrative fees. There was also confusion about the number of shots I needed. To alleviate my distress about these discrepancies, the owner spent time describing what happened, offering me a discount, and eventually administering the appropriate shots. (This is no mean feat, since I’m a wuss when a needle of any sort is concerned.)
In addition, the pharmacy’s staff is certified to administer the shots themselves, something Walgreen’s pharmacists are not. I need Hep A&B because I’m traveling to an exotic country in the Middle East, and I wouldn’t even have known I’d needed them if I hadn’t done some Googling®.That said, it’s rare these days that your pharmacist is the go-to person for information about such inoculations. It’s even rarer that he or she can administer the shot.
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