On April 16, One Community Health hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of its brand-new pharmacy, located in its The Dalles clinic. The pharmacy has been a year in the making.
Community members were invited to attend the ribbon cutting of OCH’s new pharmacy. Refreshments were provided by The Dalles Antipasti and Berries by Felice.
On April 16, One Community Health hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of its brand-new pharmacy, located in its The Dalles clinic. The pharmacy has been a year in the making.
THE DALLES — One Community Health (OCH) hosted a ribbon cutting to officially celebrate the opening of its brand-new pharmacy on April 16.
According to the OCH website, the goal of the pharmacy is to provide patients convenience and affordability by allowing them to pick up medications in the same place they receive care and offering competitive pricing and discounts. As a qualifying participant of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, OCH is able to offer its low income and uninsured patients a discount on outpatient prescription drugs.
Pharmacy Director Dr. Lisa Sandoval said the pharmacy has been officially in the works for a year now.
“We got the official go ahead to begin working on the pharmacy from our board in March of 2024, so it took a full year to open the doors, with a lot of regulation and construction and planning,” Sandoval told Columbia Gorge News. “Pretty much every team that is here at OCH has some hand in the project somewhere.”
The ribbon cutting started off with messages from speakers including OCH Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Griffith, Chief Technology Officer Colin Robinson, and Sandoval.
One Community Health (OCH) hosted a ribbon cutting to officially celebrate the opening of its brand-new pharmacy on April 16.
Kelsie Cowart photo
Sara Schmitt, field representative and labor liaison for Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office, read a letter from Merkley regarding the pharmacy’s opening, as he could not be present.
“This milestone is a major step forward in expanding access to essential health care services for so many people across the Columbia River Gorge. Since its founding in 1986, OCH has been a lifeline for more than 20,000 patients in Oregon and Washington, as you know, offering medical, dental, behavioral health services to communities that all too often face barriers to accessing care,” Schmit read. “Every person, no matter their zip code, income, background, deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare. Congratulations again on this exciting expansion, and thank you for your unwavering commitment to community health.”
During Sandoval’s speech, she noted stories that are already emerging from the pharmacy’s opening. “We’ve been open for three-ish, four-ish weeks now … we have people leaving every day with six or eight medications that they’ve been out of for weeks,” Sandoval said.
She also noted that the pharmacy has been able to coordinate with healthcare providers within the building to assist patients through the medication process and provide medical information to clinical teams while patients are still in appointments. “I’m really excited, because if we have managed to discern this much instant impact, I can imagine what it’s going to look like a year from now, or even five years from now, and what that pharmacy impact is going to have on our population health,” she said.
Community members were invited to attend the ribbon cutting of OCH’s new pharmacy. Refreshments were provided by The Dalles Antipasti and Berries by Felice.
Kelsie Cowart photo
Financial contributors to the project include The Roundhouse Foundation and Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation. During her speech, Griffin thanked elected officials for their support; representatives from both Merkley and Sen. Ron Wyden were in attendance. After holding the ribbon cutting in front of the new pharmacy, participants were offered OCH swag as well as refreshments from The Dalles Anitpasti and Berries by Felice.
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