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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is taking proactive measures to assist customers, team members and communities in the projected path of Hurricane Michael, and is preparing to fully support impacted regions in the storm’s aftermath. The company is taking the following steps:
- Prescription Drug Preparedness: In advance of the hurricane, Walgreens is underscoring the importance of prescription preparedness for its pharmacy patients in areas that may be impacted. With a State of Emergency declared in parts of Florida, pharmacists in the state can refill medications up to a 30-day supply without requiring a prescriber’s refill authorization for any non-controlled substance. Walgreens suggests patients carry any current medications in a waterproof bag – even if the bottle is empty. The information on the prescription label will help pharmacy staff with refill requests. Heat, humidity and sunlight can degrade the effectiveness of medicine and therefore it is important to protect prescriptions from extreme weather conditions. Patients can contact pharmacy staff 24/7 through Pharmacy Chat on Walgreens.com and the mobile app as well as refill prescriptions and pick up at a nearby pharmacy.
- Customer Support: Walgreens is proactively staging temporary mobile pharmacies near the region that can be deployed, if necessary, to drugstores that may be damaged or unable to reopen in a timely manner. Walgreens is also staging emergency power generators that can be deployed to drugstores in areas where there is a loss of power. In the event of store closures, the company will work to reopen those locations as soon as possible. Updates on store locations will be available on Walgreens.com, the Walgreens mobile app or customers can call1-800-WALGREENS.
- Relief and Recovery: The company will be evaluating its philanthropic response immediately following the hurricane including preparing to donate needed items to emergency shelters.
“We urge our patients and customers to follow state of emergency directives and if necessary get to a safe location first and then refill medications at the nearest pharmacy. Walgreens will continue to support the health and wellness needs of our customers and communities facing this dangerous storm,” said Richard Ashworth, Walgreens president of operations. “We have a dedicated team in our Emergency Operations Center working to ensure our team members in the storm’s path remain safe and are preparing to rapidly restore operations in order to best serve our patients and communities.”
