Labor shortages forces some Walgreens locations to cut pharmacy hours

TULSA, Okla. — Some Walgreens locations across Green Country have been forced to shorten their pharmacy hours due to the labor shortage.

You’ll notice signs on some of their doors, like the one near I-44 and Peoria, that say the pharmacy is closed on the weekends and after six, Monday through Friday.

The different hours at various locations has some customers confused or worried. Mary Myers says she’s changed where she goes a few times. She says, “11th and Garnett changed their hours within a couple of weeks, and then I went to the Walgreens in Catoosa.”

She picks up medicine for both herself and other family members and says sometimes it’s important to get medicine on the weekends. “It’s not so much scary, as it is inconvenient.”

She’s not alone. Some people shared their frustrations with FOX23 on Facebook. One person wrote, “the Walgreens in Wagoner is closed on the weekends, very frustrating and inconvenient.”

Another person said, “I ended up switching to Walmart pharmacy because of it.”

Pharmacist Juan Olvera with Freeland Brown Pharmacy says they’ve seen an increase in demand. The local pharmacy has been getting calls from people on the weekends, who are worried about the chains being closed and not sure of what to do.

He says, “people will call us wanting to get their medications through us, and we’ll say there’s no way to get them unfortunately because the store is closed. I can’t dispense medication without prescription, and I can’t get the prescription without first talking to the store.”

Walgreens has said in a statement, “What we are seeing in some areas, is consistent with what many other healthcare entities have been experiencing – staffing challenges due to the labor shortage.”

In fact – reports say pharmacists are in such high demand, Walgreens has been offering sign-on bonuses for new employees.

Walgreens has issued a statement to FOX23 News:

“What we are seeing in some areas is consistent with what many other healthcare entities have been experiencing – staffing challenges due to the ongoing labor shortage. As a result, there are some instances in which we’ve had to adjust or reduce pharmacy operating hours, as we work to balance staffing and resources in the market to best meet customer demand. We continue to take steps to help mitigate current staffing pressures, including ongoing review of staffing levels within our pharmacies in order to meet the needs of our customers and patients.”

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