Blessing Hospital hopes retail pharmacy will help decrease admissions

QUINCY — Blessing Hospital recently opened a retail pharmacy within the hospital to increase the chances patients will take the medication their provider has prescribed.

In a press release, Dr. Christopher Solaro, chief medical officer of Blessing Health System, said, “Prescription medications are key components of a patient’s treatment plan. People cannot get better or manage their condition successfully without taking medication, if prescribed by their provider. Yet national statistics tell us as many as 30 percent of medication prescriptions are never filled. This new pharmacy choice is designed to improve first-dose prescription medication compliance locally.”

Solaro says increased medication compliance can decrease hospital admissions and readmissions.

The Blessing Retail Pharmacy operates from, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It is designed to serve Blessing Emergency Center patients, inpatients being discharged from the hospital and patients who have seen their provider at the Blessing Health Center, 927 Broadway. The service allows those patients to fill a new prescription before leaving the Blessing campus.

“Once patients leave our campus, they get busy immediately again with the tasks of everyday life and may forget or not have time to stop on the way home to fill a prescription,” Solaro said. “We hope to increase prescription medication compliance by increasing convenience through providing this service on campus.”

The Blessing Retail Pharmacy offers market-based pricing and accepts all insurances, but it does not refill prescriptions to avoid competing with local pharmacies. Patients do not have to use the Blessing Retail Pharmacy. Those who choose to use it should tell their nurse or provider at the time of their visit or hospital discharge that they want their new prescription sent to the Blessing Retail Pharmacy for its first filling.