Public Health speaks with KFF Health News about Better Health Pharmacy
KFF Health News spoke with the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department for their story, “These Programs Put Unused Prescription Drugs in the Hands of Patients in Need.” The article highlights Public Health’s Better Health Pharmacy, which receives unused, unopened, and unexpired medications from licensed healthcare facilities, and dispenses the drugs at no cost to patients who have a valid prescription. From the article:
SIRUM helps facilitate donations for California’s Better Health Pharmacy, which has dispensed medications to 15,000 Santa Clara County residents since opening in 2015, [Better Health Supervising Pharmacist, Kathy] Le said. Many are uninsured, underinsured, and speak Spanish or Vietnamese. Ten volunteers, often students, help log donations, and Better Health Pharmacy fills roughly 40,000 prescriptions a year with annual operating costs of just over $1 million, according to Le and Santa Clara County public health officials.
“During the pandemic, inequities in access to care were magnified,” Roy said. “When we have solutions like these, it’s a step forward to address both equity and climate change in the same model.”
Read more at KFF Health News.