UNH student feels 'heard' on bid to save pharmacy, but it's still closing
DURHAM —University of New Hampshire freshman Isabella Aguiar made her point with a petition signed by more than 900 people and meeting with the school's outgoing president. But she couldn't prevent UNH from closing its school pharmacy.
On the day it closed, May 6, she presented the petition in a meeting with UNH President James Dean.
Her effort didn't work, but she said she was glad to have the chance to try. It was important to her because she and other students received discounts at the UNH pharmacy on prescriptions they needed. All prescriptions will be continued through Rite Aid in Durham, according to UNH officials.
"I thought he was nice and agreeable,"' Aguiar said about meeting with Dean, who is retiring this spring. "I felt like I was heard, but it's hard to tell because it's his job to be a good public figure. He's a diplomat who's good with words, but I feel that he was genuine. Overall, it was terrifying at first because I was talking with someone so high up on the food chain, but I left feeling OK because he's just a person like the rest of us and he seemed genuinely sad to see the pharmacy and 75 employees go."
In their meeting, Aguiar said, Dean told her due to budget cuts, funds used for the pharmacy needed to be reallocated elsewhere. He said it will remain open only for over-the-counter medications for students and staff, removing the need to have a pharmacist on staff.
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Aguiar said she found Dean to be friendly and approachable and said she feels she did her best.
Tania deLuzuriaga, a UNH spokesperson, previously said students are free to choose another pharmacy for their prescription needs, if they prefer.
"We continued looking at other costs and functions on campus," she said. "We looked at the pharmacy and combined with things like a decrease in usage at the pharmacy, higher drug costs, increased competition and lower insurance reimbursements, it was just not feasible to keep it open. And we can redirect resources to other operations.
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"I can't speak to other insurance plans," she said. "(UNH) Health and Wellness plans to stock some of the more commonly prescribed medications. And we are looking at the possibility of adding vending machines for commonly used over-the-counter remedies."
This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: UNH pharmacy closing despite students' petition to keep it
