Cumberland County continues to battle staff shortages at its employee pharmacy, county officials said Monday.
During the Board of Commissioners’ 9 a.m. meeting, officials shared that the pharmacy, located at 227 Fountainhead Lane, has been forced to close on weekends, only operating from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We’re having to unfortunately take some extreme measures to keep the pharmacy running and serve employees,” Assistant County Manager and Interim Finance Director Brian Haney said.
The pharmacy has just one full-time technician, according to Haney. The board on Monday unanimously approved converting two contracted positions into part-time positions with the county to remain in compliance with state employment law, but that will not expand the pharmacy’s hours of operation.
Haney told commissioners the county is working to recruit more employees after the recent departure of two of the pharmacy’s technicians.
Vice Chairwoman Toni Stewart voiced concerns that employees might have to visit the pharmacy on their lunch break or leave work. County Manager Clarence Grier said that employees would not be penalized for going to the pharmacy if they notified their supervisor.
Haney said the county has notified employees and retirees eligible to use the pharmacy of the new hours.
“It is not ideal,” he said. “This is the level of staffing the pharmacy manager believes is needed.”
The part-time positions approved Monday are for a pharmacy technician who can work 19 hours a week and a pharmacist who can work 30 hours a week, officials said.
Stewart questioned why the positions couldn't be full-time.
“We are currently evaluating that through the budget process and will probably make a recommendation to have follow-up pharmacy positions being full-time,” Grier said.
In other business:
The board went into closed session for 31 minutes, citing attorney-client privilege. No action was taken after the closed session.
The board will next meet for an agenda session at 1 p.m. on March 14 at the Cumberland County courthouse.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
To keep CityView Today going and to grow our impact even more, we're asking our committed readers to consider becoming a member.
