PrimaryOne Health and AndHealth celebrated the opening of PrimaryOne Health’s retail and specialty pharmacy at 3433 Agler Road in Columbus, Ohio, marking the expansion of PrimaryOne Health’s pharmacy services where patients can access prescription, specialty and over-the-counter medications, regardless of insurance coverage or income.
PrimaryOne Health’s pharmacy services are powered by a partnership with AndHealth, a Columbus-based healthcare company that helps CHCs radically improve access and outcomes to specialty care. Ohioans can now fill their prescriptions directly through PrimaryOne Health’s pharmacy, where affordable medications are available to all patients under PrimaryOne Health’s sliding fee scale.
According to new data released by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, pharmacy closures have accelerated, and the state has lost hundreds of pharmacies over the past several years, leaving Ohioans with less than 2,000 retail pharmacies. Nearly two million Ohioans live in “pharmacy deserts,” or areas that lack convenient access to a pharmacy. These access deserts disproportionately impact individuals in socially vulnerable communities, who face additional barriers to access and care.
“Ensuring our patients have access to affordable medications is critical to developing healthy communities,” said Fikru Nigusse, CEO of PrimaryOne Health. “This pharmacy expansion represents a reversal of Ohio’s recent trends of pharmacy consolidation and closure and ensures our neighbors have access to the medications they need directly within their community.”
AndHealth partners with Community Health Centers (CHCs) to expand access to care by addressing pharmacy and care deserts.
“CHCs safeguard against deserts by providing critical care to the communities they serve,” said Matt Scantland, CEO of AndHealth. “We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with PrimaryOne Health to now offer rheumatology, dermatology, neurology, and pharmacy services to the people of Franklin County.”
