Jessica Lewis
For The New Era
Filling your prescription in Sweet Home is about to get easier.
An expansion of the new Economy Drugs pharmacy at Thriftway supermarket is expected to begin next month and will include a drive-up window, according to pharmacist Jamey Calhoon.
“We’re going to build a regular, full-sized pharmacy instead of this little shack,” said Calhoon, motioning to the kiosk inside Thriftway that was constructed in November as a temporary facility for the pharmacy. Economy Drugs will offer prescription fills, counseling, compounding, immunization, and “just good basic pharmacy services,” he said.
The new pharmacy will be 2,400 square feet, although part of that will be storage space, according to Calhoon. It will be built out into the parking lot where the coffee kiosk stands. Thriftway manager Mark McDonald has said the kiosk will be moved to the parking lot north of the grocery store.
The store is a member of a partnership of pharmacies located in Roseburg, Redmond, Prineville, LaPine and Madras.
It opened on the heels of the closures of Home Town Drugs last June and Groves Pharmacy in September. Both of those businesses were sold to Safeway.
Calhoon said that having a second pharmacy in Sweet Home should help keep lines down. He said he thinks “there might be too much business for just one pharmacy,” and the drive-up window will help make filling prescriptions easier.
“The drive-up window will be helpful for people who are just traveling through and want to quickly drop off or pick up prescriptions, and people who have trouble getting around can just drive up,” Calhoon said.
Although no completion date has been set, Calhoon hopes the pharmacy will be ready to open by the summer.