For at least the time being, CVS Pharmacy in Batavia seems to have caught up with a backlog of prescriptions, satisfying at least one of the customers that an apparent staffing shortage had vexed.
Two days ago, The Batavian published an article about multiple dissatisfied CVS customers due to unfilled prescriptions and a phone system gone awry, and during the weekend, the story reaped more than 120 comments discussing the issue and 15 emails from additional customers.
The Batavian reached out on Friday to corporate spokesperson Amy Thibault, Lead Director of External Communications for CVS Pharmacy, and she said that employees would be pulled from others stores to help shore up the gaps at the West Main Street store.
Thibault responded to The Batavian’s follow-up for an update on Sunday evening.
“Extra team members were brought in over the weekend, and they were able to get caught up on delayed prescriptions and returning voicemails,” Thibault said.
The original article began with Roberta White’s story, and how she struggled to obtain her steroid inhaler for bronchitis, compounded by severe asthma. One of her main questions was, 'What's going on?' She was happy to report this past Sunday that she picked up all of her backed-up scripts.
“They were super thorough, and they filled everything I have been waiting on. They were very nice to me and even had the pharmacist come over to explain meds, which they have never done before,” White said. “There was a new pharmacist, not anyone I had seen before. Never had such great service there.
“Whoever they brought in is doing good, but why was this not an option back when people were hurting for meds desperately?” she said. “It seems to me they failed at recognizing and handling urgent needs.”
CVS is certainly not the only company in a bind to hire more help, as many businesses are on the hunt for employees — from manufacturing line workers and corrections officers to restaurants and some post offices.
One reader emailed a comment that this issue is much more far-reaching than just this one store, and is about a stock and staffing shortage, lack of corporate responsibility, and cutting hours across the board with “all drug stores.”
Yet, there were others that praised particular pharmacies that no one seemed to have an issue with, and insurance programs were often cited as the root of stalled prescriptions. Most people did not fault the store staff, which seemed to be doing the best it could. Some people suggested calling in prescriptions early, and yet scripts often cannot be filled until the date for refill is up; others, such as Michael Tooley, chose the self-advocacy route.
“I also have experienced the same issues, which, as you stated, is not the fault of the local staff at all, but management in failing to maintain and/or replenish diminished/inadequate staffing issues,” he said to The Batavian. “I do commend the local Pharmacists (Joel in particular) for going out of their (his) way to finally communicate with me directly and make an effort at amends through an unexpected gift card. Of course, this only happened because I was the ‘squeaky wheel’ that happened to get the grease because I emailed their Executive Office [ExecutiveOffice@CVSHealth.com] directly, mostly out of frustration after all other avenues to address the issues had failed to get ANY response.”
After all, it’s not that customers aren’t understanding, as Shannon Ferguson said.
“I’m sure they are all frustrated, but so are the rest of us. We’re all dealing with extra work, shortages, and higher costs for everything,” she said.
While most of the comments were complaints about poor service, lagging prescriptions and inability to reach anyone at the West Main Street CVS by phone, others defended it by stating that it’s not the only pharmacy with such issues; the problems are about upper management and not about store staff; where are additional employees supposed to come from in a small city; and/or that no issues have been experienced.
