SUMTER, S.C. — Sumter residents have expanded options for getting prescriptions filled with the opening of what will be a 24/7 pharmacy.
“It’s good. I could still walk there and walk back home,” Sumter resident Denise Nickens explained.
Nickens just got her medication from Tuomey Hospital’s new free-standing pharmacy, which she can walk to from her house. “It’s very important because for people that don't have a car and they live in the area, they could walk.”
That accessibility is an element that Outpatient Pharmacy Manager McCall Brennan says is important “just to provide better access to patients and better care.”
Brennan says the hospital previously had a pharmacy inside the hospital, but now, the building allows for a drive-thru and will soon be open 24/7.
“It’s so nice. It's a bigger space. We need more room. The old location was really tiny, you know, down a long hallway in a medical building, so just not most convenient. We have parking right out in front of the pharmacy now,” Brennan shared. “Just to decrease any barriers for patients receiving their medication, you know, if they go to the urgent care at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., it’s just hard to find a pharmacy that’s open that late. And then they might not get something they need to start right away and have to wait until someone's open the next morning.”
In fact, Brennan says there are no 24-hour pharmacies in the immediate area.
“From my understanding, the closest 24-hour pharmacy is about 45 to 30 minutes away,” she shared.
“I think it's always a good thing to have because Lord knows you never know when your kid's going to get sick,” fellow pharmacist Roy Flynn shared. “You never know when you're gonna fall down and break a bone, you know? Get in a car wreck.”
Flynn is the co-owner of Sumter Cut Rate, an old-school pharmacy he’s been working at for more than three decades. Over the summer, Flynn says Cut Rate absorbed Alderman's Drugs, leaving Sumter with one less pharmacy.
“It felt like a pretty natural progression to me because we really were…they were right down the street,” Flynn detailed. “So we serve the same community and pretty much the same patient population. Not a lot of difference in that I don’t think. We've got the two pharmacists from Alderman's down here now. So that made for an easy transition.”
While Flynn says he’s able to meet the demand — and greet each patients with a smile and a hug — having more pharmacists in the area is helpful as the community grows.
“[There’s] a huge need. Huge need,” Flynn said about the area. “Gosh, you look at the dispensing data that all the insurance companies put out, it grows every year. Population’s growing every year. People are living longer. Therefore by definition, there's more need.”
For residents like Heather Noll, who just moved to Sumter from Texas, having choices in the area is key.
“You need more than one option,” Noll shared. “You need to be able to shop around and see what works best for you.”
The pharmacy does have extended hours. For now, it's open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Once it’s staffing is complete, it will be open 24/7.