After her first trip to the hospital for a nasty bout of bronchitis, Roberta White was issued a prescription for a steroid inhaler, which was sent to CVS on West Main Street in Batavia.
That was the first week in April.
As of Friday, April 21, she’s still waiting for it. In between that time, White has made additional trips to the hospital for treatment, and, eventually, antibiotics and prednisone, the steroid she needed in the first place, she said.
When she tried to contact CVS by phone, she could not get through to the pharmacy, even when the front store staff transferred her, she said. Already diagnosed with severe asthma, she struggled to breathe and walk very far with her bronchitis at its worst, she said, and couldn’t go to the store until her symptoms got better.
“I had been working with my doctor’s office, they'd call CVS … they weren’t filling my other prescriptions either,” White said. “Yesterday, I decided to contact CVS, and the phone system was down.”
She believes that her visits were an irritation to hospital staff, as they asked why she hadn’t gone to get her prescriptions filled. She explained that she couldn’t because she was continuously told that they were “on hold.” She called CVS corporate and said that not only did the person she spoke to have no answers, but also couldn’t get through to the Batavia pharmacy by phone.
Mary Jo Ognibene is shopping around for another pharmacy that will take her insurance. She wasn’t pleased that the Main Street, Batavia CVS took five and a half hours to fill her child’s two prescriptions, and another CVS branch didn’t answer the phone, she said.
Some online reviewers — for a cumulative rating of 2.8 — were equally unhappy. Carissa Augello said she understood that “there are staffing shortages, but holy cow.”
“I can’t even get through to talk to someone, and when it says I can leave a message, I can’t because the mailbox is full,” she wrote. “I’ve been waiting four days for my child’s prescription.”
Another online reviewer complained that she has “literally been waiting 3 months for my prescription to be filled.”
“Understand there (is) a shortage, but every time more comes in (they’re) supposedly out and say first come, first served, but been waiting 3 months,” Alicia Brenkus wrote.
White added that her mother, a diabetic, has also experienced a lag in getting her prescriptions. Her mom has received a message that her medications are in, and when she goes to pick them up, she’s told they’re not ready, White said.
Full disclosure: this reporter has experienced similar issues of prescriptions not being filled on time, not being able to get through to anyone on the phone after multiple attempts, and then after going in person to pick up scripts that were supposed to be ready, was told that they were not.
To be fair, the two employees that were behind the pharmacy counter during a more recent trip frantically worked to fill orders and do what they could in the moment. One of them explained that the lack of staff has put them two weeks behind.
A couple of signs were posted at the pharmacy counter that said there are issues with volume and staffing.
Apparently, that team has been struggling to fill its roster. The Batavian contacted CVS corporate Lead Director of External Communications Amy Thibault Thursday about the issues at the Batavia store.
“We’ve experienced an unexpected staffing issue at our West Main Street pharmacy, which has led to some delays in service, in-person and over the phone,” Thibault said. “We’re working to bring in additional pharmacy team members from neighboring CVS stores to assist, and we apologize for any delays patients may experience.”
Staffing shortage or not, meds — and lack thereof — are nothing to mess around with, White said. With her severe breathing issues, many medical conditions, including bronchitis, can become a life-and-death matter. “I could die from this,” she said.
This isn’t to say that the employees working at CVS are necessarily doing anything wrong — many are hard-working people trying to serve the needs of customers in the face of apparent staffing hardships and a dysfunctional phone system. However, customers seem to be bearing the brunt of the store’s struggles, and they shouldn’t have to wait days, weeks, and months for necessary medications.
Hopefully, Thibault’s remedy to bring in additional staff from neighboring CVS stores has already begun. Another trip to the pharmacy Friday evening found the drive-thru closed due to the staffing shortage. Adding more personnel couldn’t happen soon enough.
If you’re experiencing issues at CVS, let us know at news@thebatavian.com.
Photos by Howard Owens.
