Friday, February 15, 2013
Rural Pharmacy Closures: Implications for Rural Communities
In many rural areas, a single retail pharmacy is the sole provider of essential services. When these pharmacies close, rural residents may not only have difficulty obtaining medication but also in some cases find themselves without proximate access to any clinical provider.
This policy brief documents the closure of local retail pharmacies in which the pharmacist was the only clinical provider available in the community at the time the pharmacy closed, describing characteristics about the communities and retail pharmacies in question.
Key findings:
- 119 sole community pharmacies closed between May 1, 2006, and October 31, 2010.
- Of those 119 pharmacies, 31 were located in rural communities with no other health professionals or clinical providers.
- Of those 31 pharmacy closures, 17% were located in remote rural areas (RUCA score of 10 or higher).
Contact information:
Keith J. Mueller, PhD
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Phone: 319.384.3831
keith-mueller@uiowa.edu
Additional Resource of Interest:
July 2012: Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America
June 2011: Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America, 2003–2010
More information about the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
