SHELBY – There’s only one pharmacy in Shelby, making the choice of how or where to pick up prescriptions a predetermined decision for residents.
Third Street Family Health Services is gearing up an alternative.
The community health center at 600 W. 3rd St. in Mansfield will open a pharmacy at the Shelby Health and Wellness Center at 31 E. Main St. early in 2027, according to President and CEO Peggy Anderson.
The expansion is possible in part thanks to state capital funding pushed for by state Sen. Mark Romanchuk and state Rep. Marilyn John.
“We originally applied (for capital funding) in 2023,” Anderson said. “Both Sen. Romanchuk and Rep. John were great at talking us through that process, encouraging us to apply.
“It’s not going to pay for supplies like the medications or anything like that. It will pay for (electrical, plumbing) or if we need to move walls or build a window for the patients.”
A federal initiative requiring drug manufacturers to give discounts to facilities like the Shelby Health and Wellness Center, serving vulnerable populations, is a major funding factor.
The discounts allow the health center to stock and distribute inventory affordably.
“About 10 percent of our patients are uninsured,” Anderson said. “Most of those are also low-income, and we see them regardless of their ability to pay … the revenue we bring in from those other areas helps pay for the uninsured folks, so that we can still have a healthy community.”
Access is the biggest part for Shelby residents. The Discount Drug Mart is not readily accessible to those living around Main Street with physical disability and/or transportation problems, according Dr. Jason Bilyj, Third Street Family Health Center’s director of pharmacy.
Patients on government support can be difficult to reach. The number they have when they first contact the Shelby Health and Wellness Center may change before a visit, Bilyj said.
Romanchuk had voiced concerns about the pharmacy’s opening, worrying over-saturation of pharmacies can lead to a lack of revenue and a new location closing quickly.
“I don’t see any saturation in our market,” Bilyj said. “The state board of pharmacy has a dashboard tracking how few pharmacies there are in Ohio. That just goes to show you (accessibility) is a big problem.”
Anderson said, “We’ve all been to larger pharmacies, and they’re still going to be a staple for a lot of folks. What we provide is that high staff-per-patient level … So if they have questions that need a little more explanation or if there’s a program out there that could help them get it even cheaper than we can provide, our pharmacist team does a great job of connecting with those programs.”
The next step, with a time frame for opening and capital funds in tow, is self-sustainability. Profits are slimming for the pharmacy industry at large, said Bijyl – though still a profitable industry – but Third Street Family Health Services is optimistic.
“(The 1992 federal law) helps us then pay for other things that aren’t paid for in the organization,” Anderson said. “It’s not going to make us, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re small enough that that’s not it. But a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year helps pay for another program like dental that doesn’t break even.
“The pharmacy … is the only program we offer that is profitable, so it helps pay for the other services. It’s because we see a lot of Medicaid patients and a lot of folks who don’t have insurance, so that’s who we are. The grants we get to help provide this, and the (1992 federal law), help make us sustainable.”
