MAHEC launches mobile pharmacy to reach underserved Buncombe County patients
MAHEC's new mobile pharmacy will bring prescriptions to Buncombe and four other mountain counties, targeting patients who miss doses because the nearest pharmacy is too far away.
MAHEC launched a mobile pharmacy on June 25 to bring prescriptions directly to underserved patients in Buncombe County and four other western North Carolina counties. In the mountain geography of western North Carolina, a 30-mile trip to the nearest pharmacy can be enough to push a patient past the point of taking medication on time.
The new unit extends a pharmacy network MAHEC has built around Asheville and Candler. Its Community Pharmacy at Biltmore in Asheville and Community Pharmacy at Enka/Candler in Candler already serve uninsured and underinsured patients earning less than 300% of the federal poverty limit, with prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, pharmacist access, vaccines and medication synchronization. MAHEC was established in 1974 to improve training and retention of healthcare professionals across Western North Carolina, and it serves North Carolina’s 16 westernmost counties.
Tj Lee is leading the mobile effort as MAHEC’s Mobile Pharmacy Manager. Lee brings more than 20 years of pharmacy experience, including clinical pharmacy, behavioral health, home infusion and oncology, and has a particular focus on rural patients.
The mobile pharmacy will operate outside existing MAHEC clinics in Transylvania, Macon, Jackson, Polk and Buncombe counties, putting medication access closer to places where people already live and receive care. MAHEC’s Rural Health Initiative also supports rural teaching practices in Yancey, Mitchell, Polk and Haywood counties, while new partnerships are being developed in Jackson, Swain, Macon and Graham counties.
North Carolina Health and Human Services provides transportation assistance for some older adults, and Medicaid can cover rides to Medicaid-covered services for eligible riders.
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