Customers 'devastated’ after Pharmaca closure in Sonoma

The unexpectedly quick closure of Sonoma’s Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacies has left some customers in a lurch, with questions about where and how their medications will be filled.

Walgreens announced it had purchased the small 22-store chain on Feb. 8 and Pharmaca’s pharmacy services ceased the following day.

“I am not impressed with the corporate attitude of Walgreens,” Sonoma resident Marilyn Kelly said. “They only provided a two-day notice to the pharmacists that they were closing the prescription services. This was not adequate time for prescriptions to be transferred for Pharmaca clients — a great disservice to clients and physicians where new prescriptions were required, since Walgreens was not responding to requests for transfers, not only from clients, but also from pharmacists.”

The files from the Pharmaca in Sonoma were transferred to the Walgreen’s in Napa, some 14 miles away. For some Sonoma Valley residents, that is too far away.

“As with many others in Sonoma, having to go to Napa for prescriptions is a definite inconvenience,” Kelly said. “It will be especially hard for those individuals who no longer drive, and going out of town is not possible.”

Sonoma resident Sandy Baggelaar tried to get her and her husband’s prescriptions transferred from Walgreens in Napa to the local CVS.

“Walgreens is not cooperating,” she said. “I was told by CVS that I needed to get them all rewritten by our doctors.”

Walgreens issued a brief statement about the purchase that included the following: “Pharmaca prescription files and inventory started transferring to nearby Walgreens pharmacies in mid-February. Patients did not need to take any action. Their pharmacy files were automatically transferred to a designated Walgreens location. And patients received notice about the changes through mail and other means, with details about continued access to their prescriptions and other services.”

Some Pharmaca patients asked Walgreens to transfer their files to one of the other pharmacies in the city and expressed concern that unlike Pharmaca, these big-box pharmacies have minimal support staff.

Other Valley residents will also have difficulty obtaining the types of medications and other products Pharmaca offered, including compound prescriptions specifically designed to meet patients’ needs as well as alternatives to traditional medicine. Dollar Drug in Santa Rosa is now the closest pharmacy that offers specially blended medications.

“This was the primary reason I used Pharmaca,” Kelly said. “The options for regular and organic supplements and medical supplies were superb. In particular, the support provided by the staff was outstanding. The nutritionists had a wide understanding of products and nontraditional alternatives. I believe it was the only business in Sonoma that could provide such services.”

Customers tended to agree the transition was not communicated or executed well, for customers or staff. Many lamented the loss of the high-touch service that kept Pharmaca customers loyal.

“I was deeply saddened to see the long lines at Pharmaca and their exhausted staff as the shelves emptied,” said longtime Sonoma resident Katy Byrne. “The staff there knocked themselves out to serve us with devotion. Some of them were there for years. Pharmaca was essential to the heart of this town and mine.”

Kelly added, “What I will miss the most is the customer service commitment all of the staff had, including the pharmacists. They knew us, and were always friendly and helpful. I had confidence that there would be recommendations and solutions to the medical issues I have.”

The closure came after Walgreens’ purchased Medly Health, which owned 22 Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacies and four Medly Pharmacies in the United States. Walgreens paid $19.35 million in the transaction, which on Feb. 7 was approved by a judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Medly Health filed for bankruptcy in December, reporting that it had $110 million in secured debt.

Contacted at the Walgreens’ corporate office in Deerfield, Illinois, media relations staff did not respond to the Sonoma Index-Tribune’s specific questions about the acquisition, including whether or not employees at the Sonoma location were given severance pay, continuing benefits or assistance to find other jobs.

“I feel sorry for all the employees I knew there who were let go with so little notice,” said Baggelaar. “I’m wishing them well, like I do everyone else who has had to close down their business in the last several years.”

Carol Eldridge, a Sonoma resident, said she is “devastated” by the closing of the store.

“And I was disappointed that the city didn’t do anything to acknowledge their closing, after providing an important service for 20 years,” she said.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.