Two independent pharmacies in Centre County are consolidating. Here’s what to know
One of Centre County’s few remaining independent pharmacies is set to close next week, part of a consolidation with another local pharmacy that is relocating.
Thompson Pharmacy, 2827 Earlystown Road, plans to close March 14 after it spent the past decade in Potter Township. Boalsburg Apothecary, 3901 S. Atherton St., plans to close March 16 but will reopen two days later at the former Thompson location.
Boalsburg Apothecary expects to reopen under the same name. Patient files will be combined, owners Bill Thompson and Bill Faust wrote in a letter made public Monday. Phone numbers for each business will remain operational.
The consolidation, Faust wrote in an email to the Centre Daily Times, is “a positive move for our pharmacies and the community.”
“We both want to continue to serve the local community with a locally owned and operated pharmacy,” Faust wrote. “We both provide the customers with highly personalized and attentive care, and we wish to continue to do so.”
Boalsburg Apothecary’s pharmacists and staff will transfer to the new location. It’s less clear what will happen with Thompson’s pharmacists and staff.
The goal, Faust wrote, is to “put together the best team possible to serve our customers and we will do our best to find a place for everyone who wants to be part of our group.”
The move will also allow for what Faust described as “enhanced services,” such as home delivery, multi-dose packaging, immunizations and a drive-thru for pickup.
He also touted the move as a positive because the Earlystown Road location is central to Boalsburg, Centre Hall and the rest of Penns Valley.
In the letter to customers, Thompson thanked the community for its support the past 10 years and said it was “a privilege to meet and serve each one of you.”
Boalsburg Apothecary will become one of only two independent pharmacies in Centre County, a business that once stood with banks and local grocery stores as community cornerstones. Both will be operated by Faust.
At least four other independently owned drugstores closed in the past 4 1/2 years in Centre County, along with four other national pharmacy chain locations.
Each local pharmacy operator who spoke with the CDT, including Thompson, ahead of closing pointed to low reimbursements as a key reason. Some pharmacists receive less than what they spend on drugs.
“Until somebody does something, there’s not going to be anybody left,” Thompson said. “... We can’t make a profit.”
Pharmacy benefit managers — third-party administrators who control access to prescription drugs for millions of Americans — have been allowed to reduce reimbursements to pharmacies dramatically and keep the spreads and rebates, Faust wrote.
“Our industry has changed dramatically over the last 20 years,” Faust wrote. “...We lose close to 15% on every brand name drug prescription we fill on most Medicare and commercial plans. The only way we can try to survive and hope for meaningful reforms is to consolidate and operate as efficiently as possible.”
The Federal Trade Commission launched in June 2022 an inquiry into the operations of pharmacy benefit managers. The consumer protection agency said it would order the nation’s largest PBMs to provide a range of information and records detailing how they do business.
The probe is ongoing.
