MIAMI — Picking up your prescription from a CVS or Walmart pharmacy is about to get a little harder.
Both mega-chains have announced plans to scale back hours at their pharmacies starting in March.
It comes at a time the industry is trying to address a shortage of pharmacists.. And other key positions. Which began before the pandemic. But has only gotten worse in recent years.
CVS announced two-thirds of its pharmacies at some 9,000 stores, will adjust their hours, beginning in March.
Walmart also planning to start closing its pharmacies at 7 p.m. -- instead of 9 p.m. on weeknights, at about 4,600 of their locations
The industry shift is meant to maximize efficiency, but still unsettling to some.
"That's ridiculous. If most people work 9 to 5s, then realistically you don't get home until 6 o'clock//you're not going to have enough time to get to any pharmacy after work," said Mikaela Pacheco.
Slashing hours is just the latest attempt to deal with a nationwide shortage of pharmacists.
In a statement, CVS says the change was part of a periodic review to make sure stores are open during "peak demand."
Walmart saying they're making the cuts in part to to enhance their pharmacy teams' work-life balance, but also to maintain the best level of service for customers who worry about juggling schedules.
"Well, you have to go in the middle of the day, when you are rushing to go and pick up a child from school or when you are rushing to work or at lunch time you have to go get out and get your prescription," says Maria Souto, a parent who lives in Miami.
Drug stores are already strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this winter, a busy flu and virus season, have pharmacists wearing many hats.
"Not only are we still trying to fill everybody's heart medicine and blood pressure medicine and, and all those antibiotics, we're also now trying to fill prescriptions for COVID. So multiply our workload times a million," says Amanda Poole, a pharmacist who recently left her job after 10 years at CVS.
Poole said she was stretched so thin, she feared of making a fatal mistake.
"We just have gotten to the point where it's either our job as a pharmacist, we're going to work and put up with it and deal with it and maybe potentially hurt somebody and harm a patient or we're going to step back and step away and that's I ended up doing," said Poole.
Some companies are using new tactics to attract staff, like big bonuses and pay bumps.
Walgreens says it is upping its signing bonus to $75,000 this year for pharmacists. They say they're now seeing "positive staffing trends."
Industry experts say these retail stores are vital.
"Chain pharmacies serve our communities and a lot of different areas, right? We have our elderly population, our underserved population that are going to be cut from access when they have a neighborhood pharmacy that no longer is open." says Rajan Vaidya, CA Pharmacists Association, Vice President Practice & Professional Development.