MANTI—The Intermountain Pharmacy at the Manti Family Clinic is closing its doors Aug. 23, said pharmacy manager Michael McQuivey.
Intermountain Healthcare has announced it will close 25 retail pharmacies in Utah and transfer its prescriptions and inventory to CVS Pharmacies.
The Manti pharmacy is one of the 25 that will be closing, McQuivey said, along with the North Sevier Pharmacy in Salina and many others along the Wasatch Front.
Most of the customers at Manti’s Intermountain pharmacy have already been notified and given options to transfer their prescriptions to other pharmacies in Sanpete County, or they have the option to do home delivery through Intermountain, McQuivey said.
Closing down Manti’s one and only pharmacy has been “really difficult for the community,” McQuivey said. It opened in 2006.
But there is hope on the horizon.
The Gunnison Valley Hospital will be opening up a new pharmacy in Manti inside the Main Street Family Clinic within a month or so, McQuivey said. The new pharmacy will be smaller in size, but company officials are working out the best way to serve the people there. It will be open to the public.
McQuivey has accepted a position to work at the new Gunnison Valley pharmacy and he will be helping out with the transition. There are two other employees at the Intermountain pharmacy that will be displaced by the closure; and they are considering their options, McQuivey said.
In essence, CVS has bought 25 of Intermountain’s retail pharmacies and will be transferring customer records to CVS, McQuivey said. Towns like Manti and Salina are in a unique situation because there isn’t a CVS nearby, he said. The closest CVS to Manti is at least an hour’s drive away, he said.
In these cases, customers are allowed to transfer their records and prescriptions to other nearby pharmacies, McQuivey said.
The Intermountain pharmacy building in Manti will be re-purposed, McQuivey said, but there can’t be a pharmacy at this location for at least five years.
In a news release, Intermountain stated the closures will affect Intermountain retail pharmacies located in Utah with low usage by area residents. These pharmacies are different than hospital pharmacies that serve patients receiving care in a hospital. Inpatient pharmacies are not affected. Intermountain will continue to offer medication management services and medication assistance and financial support services. Intermountain will continue to operate home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy and the retail pharmacy at Primary Children’s Hospital.
Intermountain also stated that impacted employees will have the option to transition to other roles within Intermountain and be considered for positions at local CVS pharmacies.
This story was updated to remove recommendations for specific pharmacies where Intermountain customers can transfer their prescriptions to, in order to remove any implication of endorsement by the Sanpete Messenger. (08/20/2021, 12:05pm)
