Since Mercy Hospital closed in December 2018, many changes have happened at the former facility.

One of those changes is the pharmacy, it has transitioned to operating by Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas personnel.

“The Fort Scott (Mercy) Pharmacy officially transferred to CHC/SEK on April 1,” Krista Postai said.

“We participate in the federal government’s 340B Drug Discount program which allows us to purchase medications at the lowest cost possible,” Postai said. “This makes it possible for us to make sure that cost is never a barrier for people to get their medicines.”

“As a result, we are only allowed to fill prescriptions for patients of a CHC/SEK clinic.  Prescriptions from out-of-town specialists may also be filled if they were referred there by one of our physicians and it is documented in their record. Our pharmacists can help with working through that if needed.”

Income from the pharmacy helps cover medicines for those who can’t afford them.

“It is worth mentioning that any income from the pharmacy is redirected back into patient services and helps covers the cost of vouchering medicines for those who can’t afford them, patient navigators, case managers, patient transportation, etc. – resources many patients need but are not reimbursable from other sources,” Postai said.

The staff remains the same.

“Same staff, although we added an additional pharmacist – Julie Pellet – a long-time Mercy employee who had, most recently, worked at the now-closed pharmacy located in Price Chopper,” Postai said.

 

“Same hours as in the past and delivery as usual,” she said. “Patients can also utilize the drive-through located on the emergency room (south)side of the hospital.”

 

There have been rumors that CHC/SEK will be leaving the facility in the near future.

 

“CHC/SEK’s lease for the current clinic in the hospital is for two years, after which we are planning on relocating,” Postai said. “Everything is in the discussion stages, but we know we will need about a 25,000 sq. ft. facility. An initial discussion has been on construction of a new building but we’re not even close to determining which direction we should go yet. We should know more in about a month.”